Moscow, May 8 (IANS): The Kosovo Football Federation (FFK) and the Serbian Football Union should try to separate their teams and prevent their face-to-face contacts in European tournaments, its secretary general Eroll Salihu has said.
Earlier, Serbia’s youth and Sports Minister Vanja Udovicic said the Serbian Football Union would challenge the decision to admit FFK into the European football governing body (UEFA) at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), reports Tass.
"We have good relations with the Serbian Football Union and we are going to resolve the question of separation of our teams. I believe that for the moment it would be appropriate to avoid direct contacts with each other. We are going to work with our clubs and particularly with our fans in future," Salihu said on Saturday.
A congress held in Budapest voted for Kosovo’s admittance to UEFA on May 3. Twenty-eight UEFA members, against 24 opposed to the decision (including Russia), voted for Kosovo’s admission. The FFK may now join FIFA and take part in 2018 World Cup qualifiers to be hosted by Russia.
The partly recognised Republic of Kosovo is not a UN member. Sixty-four countries, including Russia, China, India and Brazil, have not recognised Kosovo’s independence.