Kosovo took a huge step towards
FIFA membership on Tuesday when world football's governing body
said its 208 member countries could start playing friendly
internationals against teams from the Balkan province.
FIFA and UEFA, European football's governing body, had
previously blocked Kosovo's attempts to play internationals
because it was not recognised by the United Nations.
However, FIFA President Sepp Blatter urged his executive
committee to approve the change at its meeting on Monday and
told Reuters when the announcement was made on Tuesday that he
hoped this accelerated Kosovo's drive to full membership of the
organisation.
Other sporting federations could follow suit, giving Kosovo
another step towards wider international recognition.
"All the other countries that were in the Balkan
organisation, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and
Macedonia, all became independent and play within FIFA and UEFA,
and the last one left is Kosovo," Blatter said.
"Kosovo has organised football, so I think it is a logical
gesture and solidarity and this decision by the FIFA executive
committee will accelerate the movement towards membership."
Fadil Vokri, the head of the Kosovo Football Federation,
told Reuters: "We have been waiting for this day for many years
and the right to organise friendly games will give a new push
for our federation and our football.
"This is the last step before we will be a full member."
Not everyone was happy with the decision and the Serbian
Football Association (FSS) lodged a sharp protest with FIFA.
"We strongly protest the decision by FIFA's executive
committee to allow the world soccer governing body's members to
play friendly matches with the so-called national team of the
so-called Republic of Kosovo," the FSS said on its website.
"The decision made behind closed door in Budapest without
any consultations with either UEFA or the Serbian Football
Association blatantly contravenes the FIFA statutes.
"Hence we will ask for an urgent meeting with FIFA President
Sepp Blatter and his UEFA counterpart Michel Platini to demand a
reverse of this unjustified decision which could
have far-reaching consequences across the region."
The ruling means that the 90 members of the UN who recognise
Kosovo as an independent state can now play them and Vokri told
Beta news agency by phone: "That means we are still ineligible
to play in competitive qualifiers for major events but at least
we can play friendlies with countries which have recognised
Kosovo."
In 1999, NATO bombed Serbia for 11 weeks to halt the killing
and expulsion of ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo by Serb
forces fighting a two-year counter-insurgency war.
After nine years as a ward of the United Nations, Kosovo
declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Among the 90 countries that recognised Kosovo were the
United States and 22 of the 27 members of the European Union,
Blatter said.
Serbia, backed by Russia, says it will never recognise
Kosovo sovereignty, and the country has been unable to clinch
membership of the United Nations, blocking its participation in
many international bodies and sporting events.
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