UEFA to help place Kosovo in World Cup draw

BASEL (Reuters) - European soccer body UEFA is taking extra precautions to ensure Kosovo's recent admission to international football does not cause political problems.

UEFA to help place Kosovo in World Cup draw

(Reuters)





UEFA will set up a task force to determine which teams should be kept apart from Kosovo in international competitions to avoid potential trouble, it said on Wednesday.

UEFA also suggested that, based on an initial response from global soccer governing body FIFA, it was unlikely that Kosovar players who have previously represented other national teams such as Switzerland and Albania would be allowed to switch allegiance.

Kosovo were accepted as a full member of FIFA on Friday, a week after being admitted to UEFA despite fierce opposition from Serbia.

"We always have to take precautions to avoid clashes," UEFA's acting general secretary Theodore Theodoridis told reporters. "The obvious one is Serbia, but we have other cases where there could be problems."

UEFA has in the past made sure that certain teams such as Spain and Gibraltar, Russia and Georgia and Azerbaijan and Armenia were not drawn in the same group in tournament qualifying competitions.

Kosovo are due to make their international debut in September in the 2018 World Cup qualifying competition.

Kosovar clubs can also take part in European competition from next season, but Theodoridis said they would have to meet UEFA's club licensing standards first. These cover aspects such as stadium safety, transport, medical facilities and communications.

The other doubt concerning Kosovo is over which players would be eligible to play for them.

FIFA rules do not allow players to change allegiance but there has been speculation that it might make an exception for Kosovo, which could have a big impact on Switzerland and Albania who both have contingents of players with Kosovar roots.

In Switzerland's case, that includes some of their top players such as Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri and Valon Behrami. However, UEFA's legal director Alasdair Bell said "preliminary indications" from FIFA were that this was not likely to happen.

"The indications are that, if a player elected to play for Switzerland, for example, when he had Kosovo dual nationality, then he would not be able to change teams," he said.





(Reporting by Brian Homewood, editing by Rob Hodgetts/Mitch Phillips)


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