September 5 – With only hours to go before their historic first ever World Cup qualifying game, Kosovo were still waiting to discover whether six of their squad could switch nationality and play for them against Finland tonight.
The Balkan state, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, became a FIFA member in May, leading to the complex issue of whether players who have competed for other nations could be selected for the country of their roots.
“We don’t know if six players will be available,” said Kosovan coach Albert Bunjaki said. “The players look very motivated … the only disturbing fact is [not knowing] if they will be allowed to play, which we are expecting to happen on Monday.”
Five of the six have previously competed for Albania, the exception being Valon Berisha – a 23-year-old midfielder with 19 caps for Norway.
When Kosovo’s FIFA membership was secured, football’s world governing body indicated it would deal with players wanting to switch nations on a case-by-case basis.
Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka issued an open letter last week explaining why he had hoped to continue playing for Switzerland, claiming players who featured at Euro 2016 would not be allowed to switch nations by FIFA.
The Swiss federation, which feared widespread desertions to Kosovo by a number of its national squad and was one of those who opposed Kosovo’s FIFA and UEFA entry, complained about “a lack of clarity in regulations”.
A somewhat self-interested statement said: “The SFV regrets the priority of the Kosovar directors has been in trying to recruit players for the next World Cup qualifiers instead of consolidating the foundations of their federation.”
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