Kosovo granted full UEFA membership

An Ciarraioch

At this week's annual UEFA Congress, by a 28-24 vote. It remains to be seen, however, if they will play in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, as they still have to apply for FIFA approval before the autumn. Those Kosovars currently playing for Switzerland and Albania would, presumably, remain with their adopted squads.

keeponhurling

An Ciarraioch wrote: »

Those Kosovars currently playing for Switzerland and Albania would, presumably, remain with their adopted squads.

Would they be given the option to switch , seeing as Kosovo wasn't an option when they started their careers ?

Adnan Januzaj would be another one

Harry Palmr

Presumably they'll be kept away from Serbia in any UEFA group draw.

Zaph

It was a close enough vote. Obviously Serbia voted against, but what reason would 23 other countries have for rejecting their application? There might be a couple around the Balkans that would have their own reasons, probably based on some historical hatred of Kosovars going back hundreds of years, but the rest? Any idea how the FAI voted?

Corholio

keeponhurling wrote: »

Would they be given the option to switch , seeing as Kosovo wasn't an option when they started their careers ?

Adnan Januzaj would be another one

Januzaj is set to switch to Kosovo alright, that rule does exist.

The_Kew_Tour

Fantastic news very happy for them

ArmaniJeanss

Zaph wrote: »

It was a close enough vote. Obviously Serbia voted against, but what reason would 23 other countries have for rejecting their application? There might be a couple around the Balkans that would have their own reasons, probably based on some historical hatred of Kosovars going back hundreds of years, but the rest? Any idea how the FAI voted?

16 European countries don't recognise Kosovo yet at government/political level, so safe to assume that explains 16 of the 23 votes (the other 7 are harder to explain).
Amongst the 16 are some surprising non-Balkan countries, inc Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia and Spain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Kosovo#Entities_that_do_not_recognise_Kosovo_as_an_independent_state

GLaDOS

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Amongst the 16 are some surprising non-Balkan countries, inc Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia and Spain.

I think Spain tend to not recognise the independence of breakaway regions because of the Basque and Catalonian pushes for independence. Had heard that they were expected to vote against Scotland entering the EU if they had voted for independence from Britain.

HalloweenJack

Spain don't want to do anything about the Basque and Catalan situations, wouldn't surprise me if there was pressure from above for them to vote against Kosovo. It's another part of the country's "kicking the can down the road" approach to the independence movements.

I imagine this is the motivation for a lot of the countries who voted against them.

Can't imagine the Kosovars who have played competitively for other countries could switch allegiance at this point. The only time I can think of when that happens is when the team they originally played for no longer exists in that entity (Czechoslovakia, USSR, Yugoslavia/Serbia & Montenegro, West/East Germany) and they were able to move on to the new teams.

Lovely Bloke

Greece and Cyprus vote like that for the same reason too, as it could further legitimise the claims of Turkish Cyprus being a separate entity.

Can anyone explain Slovakia?

HalloweenJack

Roughly half a million ethnic Hungarians in the border regions, imagine Romania would do similar because of a large Hungarian community there too.

Loads of countries in Eastern Europe have ethnic minorities and have most likely seen what's happened to the former Yugoslavia and fear that any kind of solidarity or support for one people's independence could lead to cries back home for more recognition of minority rights. It's sad really that politices plays such a role in football.

Zebra3

Zaph wrote: »

It was a close enough vote. Obviously Serbia voted against, but what reason would 23 other countries have for rejecting their application? There might be a couple around the Balkans that would have their own reasons, probably based on some historical hatred of Kosovars going back hundreds of years, but the rest? Any idea how the FAI voted?

Under international law, Kosovo is part of Serbia.

Disgraceful that this has happened and opens up a massive can of worms.

Nagorno Karabach, South Ossetia, Abkhazia next up for UEFA?

Hammer Archer

Zebra3 wrote: »

Under international law, Kosovo is part of Serbia.

Disgraceful that this has happened and opens up a massive can of worms.

Nagorno Karabach, South Ossetia, Abkhazia next up for UEFA?

But Kosovo are recognised by a huge number of countries as an independent nation. The likes of Nagorno Karabach, South Ossetia and Abkhazia aren't.

BoJack Horseman

Zebra3 wrote: »

Under international law, Kosovo is part of Serbia?

What law is that?

To paraphrase the West Wing, the trouble with international law is that it most of it doesn't exist.

Here is a map of countries that recognise Kosovo as independent.
Not as many nations as might be assumed.
Recognition seems to be slow..... curious by UEFA.

Zebra3

Hammer Archer wrote: »

But Kosovo are recognised by a huge number of countries as an independent nation. The likes of Nagorno Karabach, South Ossetia and Abkhazia aren't.

So what's the cut off point numbers wise then? Or does it just depend on whether or not America and its stooges recognise a state?

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

What law is that?

To paraphrase the West Wing, the trouble with international law is that it most of it doesn't exist.

Here is a map of countries that recognise Kosovo as independent.
Not as many nations as might be assumed.
Recognition seems to be slow..... curious by UEFA.

You're quoting a show seen through the eyes of the American establishment with regard to international law? Wow...... :rolleyes:

ShooterSF

Zebra3 wrote: »

You're quoting a show seen through the eyes of the American establishment with regard to international law? Wow...... :rolleyes:

You left out the link to the law in question though...

Zebra3

ShooterSF wrote: »

You left out the link to the law in question though...

There's no link to anything about international law, just a link to a world map showing whether countries recognise Kosovo or not.

glued

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

Greece and Cyprus vote like that for the same reason too, as it could further legitimise the claims of Turkish Cyprus being a separate entity.

Can anyone explain Slovakia?

Slovakia just don't want to ruin relations with Sebia. They're just a politically weak country, a bit like ourselves.

Hammer Archer

Zebra3 wrote: »

So what's the cut off point numbers wise then? Or does it just depend on whether or not America and its stooges recognise a state?

Palestine are a FIFA member. Are they recognised by "America and its stooges"?

RedemptionZ

Don't know why people have a problem with this, is there a strong Serbian contingency on boards?

Korat

I've no problem with Kosovo having their own team but more generally I think there are too many tiny uncompetitive countries already involved qualification for major tournaments in UEFA. It's already a joke that results against the weakest teams don't count in some qualification groups.

5starpool

Zebra3 wrote: »

There's no link to anything about international law, just a link to a world map showing whether countries recognise Kosovo or not.

What he is saying though is that there is no 'international law' in this case, each country has their own stance on the matter, and their own law effectively.

kksaints

Korat wrote: »

I've no problem with Kosovo having their own team but more generally I think there are too many tiny uncompetitive countries already involved qualification for major tournaments in UEFA. It's already a joke that results against the weakest teams don't count in some qualification groups.

Kosovo will be stronger than most of the minnow countries, they will also have a decent enough dispora player pool unlike a lot of other countries.

Zaph

Kosovo didn't have to wait long for FIFA membership as both they and Gibraltar have just been accepted as full members. Both are now eligible for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

Cake Man

So how will they decide which groups to drop them into? I'm guessing our group will be unaffected as I think we've already the max number of teams in the group plus the whole Serbia thing.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Korat

Can Derry have it's own team?

I'd be in favour of a non-British/non-Irish team if the people wanted it.

A Cork team maybe?

Korat

Does every province of Europe have the right to declare independence? ...as Kosovo has done.

If Wales decided to be French how would the rest of the UK react?