A clash between Al-Andalus and the “Territory of Kosovo”

Coach Vujain Boskov said that “Soccer is football”. Sometimes king sport is, however, something else: it is economy, it is art and is (often) political. The qualifying party for the sub-21 Eurocup has just made it clear that They will play today Kosovo and Spain. What should be a sports encounter in Pristina has resulted in something unthinkable: an al-Andalus vs. “Kosovo territory”.

We explain ourselves.

What happened? That The game This afternoon between the players of Kosovo and Spain in the framework of the classification for the Under 21 Eurocup, it has come marked by the controversy. And not sports. The reason for the disagreement has been rather geographical and political and has triggered a decision (there is a doubt of whether deliberate or not) that a priori has little to do with the football strategy: the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has referred to its opponent as “Kosovo’s territory“, a formula that has not liked in the Balkan country.

And what is the controversy? That the Kosovo Football Federation (FFK) It is not too satisfied with that “territory” coletilla. Not surprisingly if the country’s recent history is taken into account: In 2008 The Kosovar Parliament declared the split of the territory of the rest of Serbia, proclaiming its independence unilaterally. The new state was called Republic of Kosovo and raised Division of opinions between countries in favor and opposites to independence. Spain (is not the only one in the EU) it was positioned among the latter. In recent years the region has lived delicate moments, marked by tensions between Albanians and Serbs.

RFEF website.

And what does the RFEF paint? With that complicated backdrop, the Spanish Federation has done something that has especially bothered its homologous Kosovar: in Your calendar of September competitions thus refers to the Sub-21 Party planned for this afternoon at the Stadium Fadil Vokrri, in Pristina: “Kosovo-Spain territory.” As can be seen on the screenshot that illustrates this report, the reference still appeared in the middle of Tuesday.

In Other sections The RFEF website is spoken of Kosovo, without “territory.” In any case it has been enough to warm move token at the highest level.

And how has you done it? Sending an official letter to the president of the UEFA, the Slovenian Aleksander čeferin, and the president of the RFEF, Rafael Louzán, in which he regrets the way of proceeding the Spaniards in a thorny issue. “I am forced once again to raise an issue that continues to affect our representation in European competitions, specifically how our selections are treated by certain member federations,” The writing starts.

Click on the image to go to Tweet.

Does it say anything else? Yes. “The most recent incident has to do with the RFEF, which has referred to Kosovo as ‘Kosovo territory’ in its official network channels. This terminology does not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign country represented by the Kosovo Football Federation, a full -right member of the UEFA, as well as the RFEF,” Recal the letterwhich also recalls that “it is not the first time” that is with similar “behaviors”, something that sees “unacceptable.”

In case there were doubts that the body is not willing to pass any more reference to a name other than the officer, duck: “We ask for a clear and immediate response to UEFA with respect to this matter, as well as a public rectification and formal recognition by the RFEF, admitting that its actions were inappropriate and incompatible with the principles of UEFA.”

Is there anything else? Yes. The most striking (and media). Kosovan Footballan X account of the Kosovar Federation in English, published a tweet in which it seemed to respond to the RFEF pulling sneer. In the image you can see an advertisement this afternoon, although our country is identified as “al-Andalus”, in reference to the peninsular territory under Muslim control between VIII and XV.

An ironic wink that has not taken long in viralwith thousands of visualizations and news in sports media. Kosovan Football does not identify as an officer or appears linked on the FFK website, but the truth is that it has more activity and quite more followers than the account of X that the FFK identifies as its official channel, FFK_ksin which the poster is not located with the word al-Andalus.

Images | Kosovan Football (X) and FFK (X)

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