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Gibraltar ‘will’ be included on FIFA Congress agenda - Infantino

Gibraltar’s admission into FIFA will be included on the agenda for the annual congress of football’s world governing body in Mexico next week, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said yesterday.

Mr Infantino confirmed the move during an address to the UEFA congress in Budapest, a day after the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] ordered FIFA to stop blocking Gibraltar's application for membership and allow it to join "without delay".

The agenda for the FIFA Congress in Mexico on May 12 and 13 had already been closed prior to the ruling, making it uncertain whether Gibraltar’s application would be heard next week.

But Mr Infantino appeared to dispel those doubts yesterday.

“Following the decision of the CAS there will be on the agenda also the admission of Gibraltar, which is already a member of UEFA since three years,” he told UEFA delegates in Hungary, although the revised agenda will not be confirmed until the FIFA Council meets on May 9.

The UEFA congress was significant too because the governing body for European football admitted Kosovo as its 55th member.

Mr Infantino signalled that Kosovo’s application for FIFA membership would also likely be discussed next week in Mexico.

Once admitted, both Gibraltar and Kosovo could be fast-tracked by FIFA into 2018 World Cup qualifying groups, which kick off in September.

 

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