By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – Kosovo and Gibraltar seem certain to be fast-tracked into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign starting in September after being accepted as the 210th and 211th members of FIFA even though Serbia says it will fight Kosovo’s entry by legal means.
Kosovo were only recently granted membership of UEFA, narrowly surviving a vote on their inclusion by 28 votes to 24. FIFA as expected duly followed suit at its Congress last week, with Kosovo now recognised by a majority of United Nations countries if not by the UN itself.
Although they have been playing friendly matches, competitive senior tournament fixtures have so far been denied the Kosovans who declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
But that will now change after 86% of FIFA’s membership voted them in despite predictable opposition from Serbia. Gibraltar’s entry gained even more support, 93%, though FIFA had little choice but to offer membership to the tiny British overseas territory after being mandated to do so by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Spain – which ceded Gibraltar to Britain 300 years ago but wants it returned to Spanish sovereignty – has long opposed Gibraltar’s FIFA membership but had to stomach last Friday’s vote at the FIFA Congress in Mexico.
Kosovo’s complicated structure has seen several players born in the state play for different countries, including Xherdan Shaqiri and Valon Behrami (Switzerland), Shefki Kuqi (Finland) and Lorik Cana (Albania). Its admission raises the question of whether any of them will be allowed to switch nationality.
The Serbian football federation’s vice president vowed to legally challenge the decision before the congress voted 141-23 to admit Kosovo, the largely ethnic Albanian former enclave of Serbia. But an emotional Kosovan FA president Fadil Vokrri said after the ballot: “The players and people of Kosovo have been waiting for this for a long time – thank you.”
Gibraltar, which has a population of about 32,000, became full UEFA members in 2013 and took part in qualification for Euro 2016, albeit without picking up a single point.
“We are realistic about what we can achieve on the pitch but that is not the point,” said Michael Llamas, head of the Gibraltar football association. “The point is that our many children who love our sport and who now will be the first generation of Gibraltarians to grow up with FIFA membership. They will be able to dream.”
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