Albanian Cup

About Albanian Cup

Albanian Cup History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage

The Albanian Cup is an annual knockout competition that is open to all clubs in the Albanian football system, starting from the Kategoria Superiore all the way down to the Kategoria e Tretë. It was first created in 1939 and was paused due to the outbreak of World War II in Europe before being restarted in 1948 under the name “Republic Cup”. In 1991, the cup’s name was changed to the “Albanian Cup”.

The winner of the Albanian Cup gains an automatic right to take part in the UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. Tirana, Partizani, and Dinamo Tirana are among the most successful teams in Albanian Cup history.

In the early years of the Albanian Cup, there was no central broadcasting deal, with matches being broadcast by a variety of channels. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) acquired media rights to cover the competition, and did so until the 1990s. Starting in the 1990s and throughout the early part of the 21st century, a series of paid-TV broadcasters held media rights at various points, with some of these networks including SuperSport Albania, Sport TV Albania, DigitAlb, and Top Channel. In 2017, Tring TV acquired the rights to the Albanian Cup and has since covered matches both via TV broadcasts as well as live-streaming.