Kosovo national football team to play against Haiti

March 25, 2014 3:13 AM

Kosovo's National Football Team has an unsteady status within the International Football Federation (FIFA). This is owing to the fact many countries do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state. In 2013, the FIFA Executive Committee gave permission to Kosovo to play exhibition games against teams from countries that recognized Kosovo as a sovereign state. But a condition was put on it: neither the national flag, nor the national anthem was permitted.

Political tensions led the national football federations of Kosovo and Serbia to an accord this past January, which stated Kosovo would not compete with the countries of the former Yugoslavia until such time tensions eased.

An exhibition match between Kosovo and Jamaica was to have been held in January, but they withdrew because of civil uprisings in Bosnia and Herzegovina. FIFA then extended an invitation to Haiti, which it accepted. The only other country willing to play an exhibition match has been Panama, who will play against Kosovo in May.

Kosovo is an area in southeastern Europe, incorporated into Serbia during the Middle Ages. By the 15th century, Kosovo came under the Ottoman Empire rule for the next 500 years. It was re-incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbia in 1913. After World War II, Yugoslavia created the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Serbia.

In 2008, Kosovo proclaimed its independent statehood, but Serbia does not acknowledge Kosovo's sovereignty. To Serbia, Kosovo is an UN-governed territory within its sovereign jurisdiction.

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Kosovo national football team to play against Haiti

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