| Newspaper Name: |
Sporti Shqiptar |
| Newspaper name in English: |
The Albanian Sport |
| Country / Region: |
Albania (Tirana) |
| Language: |
Albanian |
| Format type: |
Newspaper |
| Category: |
Sport |
| Political alignment: |
None |
| Frequency: |
Daily |
| Publication Years (print version): |
1935 — now (88 years) |
| Website: |
sportishqiptar.com.al [read with translation] |
|
«Sporti Shqiptar», the first sports newspaper in Albania and in general on the Balkan Peninsula. The founders of the newspaper were Luigi Shala, Akif Domini, and Anton Mazreku, who is now considered a pioneer and founder of Albanian sports journalism. Translated into English, the newspaper's name means «Albanian Sport» or «People's Sport». The first issue of the newspaper was published on November 23, 1935. During the war, the newspaper was not published, and after it returned with the name «Sporti» (Sport). Then there was a period of strict communist censorship in Albania, which also affected sports publications. During this period, the newspaper was part of the local Athletes ' Union and published mainly local news about local athletes and their sporting achievements, a brief overview of sports in other communist countries. At the same time, it managed to remain one of the most liberal newspapers, giving readers a glimpse of the West through sports. Since the 1980s, when the regime began to weaken and its pages began to include sufficient reviews of international sports events, Narodny Sport became the second most popular newspaper in Albania after «
Zëri i Popullit».
During the transition period for the Albanian economy, the newspaper was declared bankrupt. In 1999, it became part of the publishing house «Spektër». This was a period of significant changes for the newspaper and its entire staff, and a large-scale reorganization of the entire editorial staff and even the printing house was carried out so that it could adequately compete with modern publications (such as «
Sport Ekspres»). The newspaper began to be published daily on about 24 pages. The main topic of the newspaper is national and European football: the Albanian Super League, the Albanian Cup and other Leagues.
