Kosovo accepted as 55th UEFA member....

[mente captus]

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...s-55th-member-of-european-governing-body-uefa

 

[epic73]

Now Jazunaj has another option. Hooray.

 

[smat]

Can Shaqiri, Xhaka, Behrami et al play for Kosovo now if they want to, or are they bound to Switzerland?

 

[AFCB_Mark]

I believe I read somewhere that this could quite seriously effect Albania, with half their squad being ethnic Albanians of Kosovon 'nationality' / birth. I read that those players could choose to switch to Kosovo upon being granted official membership, should they wish to. So I assume the same applies to those Smat.

 

[mente captus]

Can Shaqiri, Xhaka, Behrami et al play for Kosovo now if they want to, or are they bound to Switzerland?

they are all allowed to switch as the Kosovo were not a full associated member of any continental or worldwide FA at the time they were capped by Switzerland

if one of them is playing in a competitve match for Switzerland from now on, they are bound to them then

 

[smat]

Very interesting, thanks lads. Kosovo could have a very decent team. A real dillemma for Kosovar-Albanians ahead of Euro 2016.

 

[Libertadores FC]

This is a lot more interesting than adding Gibraltar, as Smat said they could have a decent team.

However, would they want to switch though? They aren't a member of FIFA yet so they don't get to play in the World Cup yet.

 

[DarkSithLord]

This is a lot more interesting than adding Gibraltar, as Smat said they could have a decent team.

However, would they want to switch though? They aren't a member of FIFA yet so they don't get to play in the World Cup yet.

"The country could now be fast-tracked into FIFA and the 2018 qualifying campaign for the World Cup in Russia."

 

[Libertadores FC]

"The country could now be fast-tracked into FIFA and the 2018 qualifying campaign for the World Cup in Russia."

COULD is the key word though. This all depends on the players choices whether they'd like to take that risk. Shaqiri for example was born in Kosovo, so maybe he'd like to play for them, but it all depends if he wants to risk possibly having to miss out on a chance to qualify for 2018.

 

[mente captus]

"The country could now be fast-tracked into FIFA and the 2018 qualifying campaign for the World Cup in Russia."

The groups are already drawn, how they will be included then?new draw?

 

[Libertadores FC]

The groups are already drawn, how they will be included then?new draw?

They'd probably be added to Group H or Group I, given those groups are smaller than the others.

 

[Craig]