Office for Kosovo and Metohija
Government of the Republic of Serbia

Đurić and Udovičić announcing legal action against UEFA in Lausanne

The Football Association of Serbia (FSS) will initiate legal action against UEFA’s decision to admit Kosovo to its membership, and will do so with the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, said the head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Marko Đurić and Minister of Youth and Sport Vanja Udovičić on Tuesday.

This decision tramples both the law and the UEFA Statute, and makes sports into a political tool, Đurić and Udovičić said at a press conference held after Kosovo's football association was admitted to UEFA in a secret vote at the organisation's congress in Budapest earlier in the day.

The state would land assistance to the FSS in order to ensure that the decision does not go down smoothly or as intended by the separatists, Đurić said.

Đurić underlined that this unfortunate decision could usher new divisions within the European football's governing body and raise many other issues, since associations from other territories have already expressed interest in obtaining the UEFA membership.

"This will open a Pandora's box," Đurić said, adding that 24 states were directly opposed to Kosovo's UEFA membership, while two abstained from voting.

Eleven states that have recognised Kosovo voted against the UEFA decision, he said, adding that Kosovo failed in its attempts to push through an amendment to the UEFA Statute, which still states that only UN member states can be members of UEFA.

That is our main argument, and that is why the decision must be overturned in Lausanne, Đurić said.

He underlined that all our clubs from Kosovo and Metohija would continue to compete within the Football Association of Serbia, and announced that the state would continue to help them.

"They are deluding themselves thinking that we would stop fighting. And we will never lose as long as we continue to fight," said Djuric.

Udovićić underlined that today's UEFA decision is detrimental to the sport, strongly signaling presence of politics in the sports at the international level.

"We will use everything, including personal contacts, to overturn the decision," Udovičić said, adding that high-level talks are now expected to take place on the matter.

Asked whether Serbia will possibly boycott future UEFA competitions, Udovičić said that it was neither the time nor the place to prejudice such decisions.

Football Federation of Kosovo became the 55th member European Football Union (UEFA) after a secret vote at the UEFA congress in Budapest today, without previous amendment to the Statute of UEFA.

Kosovo was elected by a majority of votes, since 28 states voted in favor, out of a total of 54, and 24 were against.