KOSOVO‟S PURSUIT OF INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION: FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION v. UEFA

Abstract

Kosovo‟s Declaration of Independence in the year 2008 caused a massive stir within the International community which brought the debates of recognition to the forefront. The dispute between Serbia and Kosovo has not only resulted in countless lives being destroyed but economies being stalled with the failure of Belgrade-Pristina talks. Serbia has been adamant on not recognizing Kosovo as an independent sovereign state. This has led Kosovo to search for different battlefields to garner the consensus of the International Community regarding their free status. Sport is the new battlefield to show the soft power of diplomacy. In the past few years, Kosovo has tried to garner membership in countless governance bodies, inter alia, FIFA, UEFA, etc. This has largely helped Kosovo towards its aim of recognition by the United Nations and the European Union. To halt this approach Serbia challenged Kosovo‟s membership in UEFA in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The contentious issue was the interpretation of Article 5(1) of the UEFA Statutes. This paper analyses the said proceedings in the light of Kosovo‟s battle for recognition. Through this the author aims to lay down the requisite ambit of sport diplomacy by the stakeholders and governance bodies.