Kosovo Elected as 55th UEFA Member

A member of the Kosovo media team celebrates the inclusion of the country into UEFA (Photo: Reuters)

UEFA admitted Kosovo as its 55th member in a narrow vote on Tuesday, boosting its hopes of competing in the 2018 World Cup despite warnings from former ruler Serbia.

UEFA’s member federations voted 28-24 to accept the former province of Serbia, which led the opposition. Two votes were declared invalid.

They also elected Florence Hardouin, the French soccer federation’s marketing director, as a member of its executive committee.

UEFA met without its president, Michel Platini, who should get a verdict next Monday from CAS in his appeal against a six-year ban by FIFA.

Platini and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter were sanctioned over a $2 million payment the former France great received in 2011 as uncontracted and backdated salary.