FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been awarded one of Kosovo’s highest honours, the Presidential Medal, in recognition of his contribution to the development of football globally and his strong support for Kosovo’s football community. At the ceremony in the Kosovan capital, Pristina, President Vjosa Osmani received Mr Infantino and the FIFA delegation before bestowing the medal upon the FIFA President.

“What an honour, what a pleasure, what an emotion, what a happiness for me to be at home in Kosovo today, and to receive this incredible honour, this medal, from you, from the President, my dear friend Vjosa, on behalf of a wonderful country which is Kosovo,” said Mr Infantino, whose first FIFA Congress as FIFA President in Mexico City in May 2016 saw Kosovo welcomed as FIFA’s 210th Member Association. “When I became President of FIFA on 26th February 2016, for me it was very clear that on the first occasion Kosovo should become a member of FIFA. And on 13 May 2016 – three months after my election as FIFA president – I was proud to be the FIFA president to welcome Kosovo in the FIFA family.”

Since their first official international game in March 2014 and their maiden competitive fixture – a 1-1 draw with Finland in FIFA World Cup 2018™ qualifying in September 2016 – Kosovan football has made great strides. The men’s senior national team currently sits at an all-time high 91st place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, while the women’s senior national team’s recent promising performances have risen hopes of a first appearance for Kosovo on the global stage at the FIFA World Cup 26™ and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™. The FIFA President highlighted the fundamental role the late Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK) President Fadil Vokrri had played in laying the groundwork for success by promoting and advancing its affiliation to both UEFA and FIFA. “This took years and years and after I don’t know how many meetings, at some stage, I was saying to Fadil and Agim (Ademi) is here as well, and Armando (Duka), ‘Come on, we’ve met now, enough, we know… we will see what happens.’ And we were just waiting and gaining time and then I realised the resilience and the courage of the people of Kosovo, who believe in their country, who believe in what they want,” Mr Infantino explained. “This resilience, this courage, this passion for the country – something that was actually not new to me – because I met people from Kosovo, well before Kosovo even existed.”

Since his passing in June 2018, Mr Vokrri’s legacy has been built upon by his successor at the FFK, Agim Ademi, and in addition to support from President Osmani Sadriu, various FIFA initiatives introduced since Mr Infantino’s election as FIFA President in 2016 have contributed to football’s growth in the country. The FIFA Forward Programme has provided some USD 2 million to fund the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in the Football Superleague of Kosovo, install six artificial pitches for clubs, and upgrades to the Hajvalia Stadium, part of the FFK’s national technical centre. In addition, the FIFA Football for Schools initiative launched in Kosovo in September 2024 and the FFK has joined the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, receiving a USD 50,000 grant to organise a women’s U-15 competition last year as part of a wider drive to increase female participation in the game. “You believed in Kosovo’s potential and in the unifying power of sport at a time when belief still required courage. You understood that football, at its heart, is about humanity, about giving every single child, no matter where they come from, the chance to belong,” President Osmani said of the FIFA President. “Through your leadership, FIFA has become a true family of nations, a family where everyone belongs. You have worked tirelessly to ensure that football builds bridges between people, whatever they may be. And for Kosovo, this has meant the world. You helped our players fly the flag of a free and independent country that today competes with pride and dignity on the international stage.”