Historic, Kosovo becomes UEFA member

03/05/2016 00:00

The Kosovo national football team just became part of UEFA. The request
of the Kosovo Football Federation received the necessary votes in
Budapest, becoming the 55th member of this organization. The main
opponents to this decision were Switzerland and Serbia.

The Head of the Kosovo Football Federation, Fadil Vokrri, asked the member countries to not penalize football but follow the example of other sportive organizations that have recognized Kosovo.

“There is no reason why Kosovo should not be part of UEFA”, Vokrri said.

The Head of the Serbian Football Federation said the entire process was political.

“I am defending football from politics. Certainly, I am not against extending football in our entire continent, but football should not cross the line to change country borders. The accession of Kosovo proves that politics would abuse football, and we should say “no” to politics in football”, he said.

Switzerland opposed Kosovo’s accession too, although in a more moderated way than Serbia. Their representative underlined the future of their football national team, and their statute, if Kosovo would become a member.

The Head of the Albanian Football Federation, Armand Duka, answered to this fear of Switzerland:

“Kosovo’s football is a reality now. There are championships organized by them, their own teams and federation which has nothing to do with the Serbian Federation. We also have footballers from Kosovo and the fear that we will lose them is not important for us. What is important, is to think only about football”, Duka said.

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