January 25 – Serbia’s appeal against Kosovo becoming a member of UEFA has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, finally paving the way for the breakaway state to persue its footballing ambitions without interference from Big Brother.
CAS ruled that Kosovo met the standard of UEFA rules because it is “recognised by the majority of the United Nations member states as an ‘independent state.'”
The Serbian FA had argued that the former Balkan republic, which joined UEFA last May after a narrow 28-24 vote by European associations despite not being an official UN member, should be refused entry since UEFA had breached its own rules. Serbia and its allies, including Russia, have not recognised Kosovo since it declared independence in 2008.
CAS conceded there was no formal recognition but that acceptance of Kosovo’s statehood by most countries meant it was therefore entitled to UEFA admittance.
Kosovo played their first competitive match against Croatia in a World Cup qualifier in October and are currently bottom of their World Cup qualifying group, with one point from four matches.
“The CAS panel in charge of this matter noted that FAS had both standing to sue in this matter and reasonable cause to file its appeal, considering that the relevant provision of the UEFA Statutes (Article 5 (1)) was ambiguous and required clarification,” the CAS ruling said.
“Such provision states that membership of UEFA is open to national football associations situated in the continent of Europe, based in a country which is recognised by the United Nations (UN) as an independent state.
“Considering that there is no formal recognition of countries by the UN, the CAS Panel interpreted (the relevant article of the UEFA Statutes) as meaning that the territory in which the football federation is located shall be recognised by the majority of the UN member states as an ‘independent state’.
“The CAS Panel found that this prerequisite was fulfilled with respect to FFK, and that such conclusion was also in line with the will expressed by the majority of the member federations at the UEFA Congress to accept FFK as a new UEFA member. As a consequence, FAS’ appeal was dismissed.”
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