UEFA urged to help prevent the decline of football in Jersey

Tuesday 20 February 2018

The Jersey Football Association are asking UEFA to put aside their rules and consider the island’s “football credentials” in their last stab at joining the governing body of European football, which they say will secure the future of the sport in Jersey.

Last September, the Court of Arbitration for Sport supported Jersey’s appeal to have their membership application put to the UEFA Congress, after the body initially rejected it on the grounds that Jersey did not fit the eligibility criteria.

Ahead of that hearing in Bratislava on 26 February, the JFA President Phil Austin has written to all 55 National Associations, asking them to put the rules aside and focus on UEFA’s core value “to put football first.” He hoped to have had more time to lobby all UEFA members ahead of the meeting this month, but this was not allowed.

In the letter, Mr Austin tells the Congress: “Our footballing structure and infrastructure is first class but our players, at all levels, are suffering from a serious lack of regular, external, competitive games. Unless we, the Jersey FA, can find a solution to this problem, football in Jersey will decline - indeed, we are already seeing signs of that happening. My responsibility as President of the Jersey FA is to find a solution and I, and the rest of the Jersey FA board, believe that would be as a member of UEFA.”

To try and secure their vote, Mr Austin explains the history of the sport within Jersey and that there are currently 17 senior football clubs with 2,500 registered players within 138 men’s teams and 11 women’s teams.

He argues that Article Five  – the criteria which the UEFA Executive felt Jersey did not meet – shouldn't stop Jersey joining, as a recent update to the ruling now states: “Membership to UEFA is open to national football associations situated in the continent of Europe, based in a country which is recognised as an independent state by the majority of members of the United Nations, and which are responsible for the organisation and implementation of football related matters in the territory of their country”  - the JFA President explains that the island is responsible for the organising and implementation of football related matters within it’s “self-governing nation.”

He's also highlighted that not all existing members of UEFA currently meet Article Five. 

Mr Austin told Express: “I will have the opportunity to make a short presentation ahead of the formal vote. We have no expectation that we will get the required number of votes this time around - 28 needed to get in - but we hope we can open a more meaningful dialogue with UEFA about future membership.”