Football's fight for international status to continue

Tuesday 04 October 2016

The Jersey Football Association says UEFA's decision not to grant the Island international status is not an own goal for the sport in the Island.

JFA chiefs are not surprised by European football governing body UEFA's decision, but they will appeal against it at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The JFA say Gibraltar applied to the court on three occasions before they were granted international status, so Jersey are expecting a lengthy battle.

JFA President Phil Austin said: "This is not the end of the world, far from it. We expected UEFA to make this announcement but we feel we have a very strong legal argument and we will be going to the Court of Arbitration to present our case.

"The benefits Jersey would get if we obtained international status would be immense and we believe we have got an extremely good case."

Several years ago UEFA announced that in future only nations recognised as such by the United Nations would be eligible for international status. Gibraltar were denied and denied again, but the Court of Arbitration eventually decreed that UEFA had changed their rules after Gibraltar's first application and thus 'the Rock' was allowed in.

Their clubs now play in European clubs competitions - earlier this season Celtic were even beaten in Gibraltar's home leg - as well as international tournaments.

That is exactly what Jersey are chasing, as well as the increased funding from UEFA for grass roots football that a successful international status would provide.  

Mr Austin said: "The fact is we have Gibraltar playing international football as well as San Marino and Andorra. Kosovo have just been granted their status. That is just one of the reasons why we feel we have a very strong case to present.

"We only applied for international status in December so this is very early days yet. We knew it would be turned down this time, but the Court of Arbitration is the place where we feel we can be successful.

"We have Sir Philip Bailhache presenting our case and we could not have better legal advice. This was always going to be a long game."

The JFA do not know when the Court will sit, but Mr Austin is convinced their bid will eventually be successful.

He said: "I would imagine it will be several months and whenever it is we will be ready. This could mean so much for football in Jersey. It would secure a fantastic future for the sport on the Island, but we knew we would face a long process in order to get international status. It is only the first chapter so far. There is a long way to go."