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England’s World Cup qualifier against Albania on Sunday is at risk of being cancelled.

The Mail reports the Albanian FA have said this is due to fears over the lack of police security as the team prepared for a Group I clash for the Qatar tournament next year in the country’s capital of Tirana on Sunday.

But in a statement released to Albanian Daily News, the Albanian Football Association (AFA) said the safety of both sides could not be guaranteed and that cancelling the fixture would have ‘catastrophic’ consequences for the country.

It read: ‘Today in the Albanian Football Federation a letter arrived from the Local Police Directorate of Tirana which states the structures of the Local Police Directorate Tirana cannot guarantee the taking of measures before, during and after the Albania-England match.

‘Faced with the situation where the state authorities did not react after the request of the AFA for the release of spaces on the perimeter of the National Stadium, we request urgent response to these structures.

‘The cancellation of the Albania-England match would have catastrophic consequences for the image of our country, the National Team and in general for Albanian Football.’

Southgate’s men are set to arrive in Albania on Saturday after facing San Marino at Wembley on Thursday evening.

ClaretandHugh says: There won’t be too many Hammers fans who will be particularly concerned should the match be cancelled although in difficult tmes such as this it will of course be another blow to the international calendar. Frankly, with covid as it is this could even be a blessing in disguise with many feeling that travel arrangements during the pandemic should be kept to an absolute minimum. Gareth Southgate will probably be the only one seriously peeved as he bids to tke a look at those he has available but it’s pretty difficult to know precisely what he may learn from such a match. Tonight San Marino followed possibly by Albania is not exactly the feast of international football you would want to see the Premier League programme called off for but I can imagine a few gasps of relief from the players in these times if it is.