Faroe Islands and other minnows

[Réiteoir]

Isle Of Man, Shetland Islands, Guernsey, come under the jurisdiction of the E/SFA,
None of these "countries" could become FIFA members, as none of them are outright independent states.

www.gov.je

Government Assembly

Constitutionally, Jersey is a dependency of the Crown, owing allegiance to the Sovereign, but without incorporation into the United Kingdom. Jersey is self-governing in internal matters, but the UK Government is responsible for defence, overseas representation and international affairs generally.

The Island has its own legislative assembly called the States of Jersey, a system of local administration, fiscal and legal systems and courts of law. The Bailiwick of Jersey is not represented in Parliament and therefore UK acts of parliament only apply to the Island if it is expressly agreed that they should do so. In Jersey there are no political parties, no cabinet and no prime minister.

The Government of Jersey is carried out by Committees, which are made up from 53 elected independent members. The present constitution of the States is the Bailiff, the Lieutenant Governor, 12 Senators, 12 Parish Constables, 29 Deputies, the Dean of Jersey, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General.

The Bailiff, who is appointed by the Crown, is the President of the Assembly and acts as its Speaker. He is also President of the Royal Court. Although he has no political power, he has the right of speech, which is traditionally only exercised for the purpose of ensuring orderly debate. He also has a casting vote, which, by tradition, is used to maintain the status quo and which allows the Assembly to reconsider the matter at a later date. There is also a Deputy Bailiff, who acts in the Bailiff's absence.

The Lieutenant Governor, as the resident representative of the Crown, attends the States Assembly on occasions but takes no part in debates. The Attorney General and the Solicitor General are the Law Officers of the Crown and are appointed by the Crown. They have the right to speak but not to vote. Points of law raised in debate are often referred to them for explanation and clarification.

http://www.gov.im/

The Isle of Man is situated in the heart of the British Isles. The country is an internally self-governing dependent territory of the British Crown. It is not part of the United Kingdom but is a member of the British Commonwealth.
IOM

Tynwald, the Island's 1,000 year old Parliament, makes its own laws and oversees all internal administration, fiscal and social policies. External issues, such as foreign representation and defence, are administered on the Island's behalf by the U.K. Government. The Island makes an annual payment for these services.

As a Crown dependency, the ultimate responsibility for the government of the Island is vested in the Crown. By long standing convention, the U.K. Government does not legislate for the Island except with the specific consent of the Island's Government.

The Island has it's own Income Tax and Customs and Excise services and is an established low tax area enjoying total independence from the UK on matters of direct taxation. There is low corporate and personal tax and no capital transfer or inheritance tax. As a consequence the Island has developed into a flourishing and internationally respected offshore business centre.

[gaf1983]

Sure Wales, the Faroes, Scotland and Northern Ireland aren't outright independent states yet they are all FIFA members.

Are Surinam members of FIFA? Think of the players they've produced down through the years - Davids, Seedorf, Kluivert, Rijkgaard and Gullit among others. In an issue of FourFourTwo Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink picked his dream team and nearly all the players were from Surinam - they'd have been class if they had their own team. Then again I suppose most of their players moved to Holland very young and came up through the Dutch football system so perhaps it's better that they went on to represent Holland.

[pineapple stu]

Are Surinam members of FIFA?

Yep - they play in CONCACAF. Beat Aruba 10-2 before losing 4-2 to Guatemala this time around according to rsssf

[Gerrit]

You can't compare Gibraltar with Pleastine - They're on a different level I don't see why Gibraltar should play international games - they're not a "nation" - so they can't play against Us, France etc, obviously this can't be applied retrospectively, so Faroes, San Marino etc are free to continue. With parts of Moldova, Azerbarjan etc wanting to proclaim "proper independence" - "fake" countries like Guernsey or the Falklands certainly don't carry as much credence.

Palestina is also not a sovereign state yet. The similarity with Gibraltar is that both had/have political objections towards membership. FIFA ignored objection in Palestina's case and not in Gibraltar's case. Seems they're more afraid to be on the bad books with Spain than they are afraid of debating with Israel... I think if you ignore political issues for Palestina you should also do it for Gibraltar and the Falklands.

[Gerrit]

Vatican City is a state in it's purest technical form. I personally, don't recognise the Vatican as a sovereign state, but merely as an area of Rome. Rome is in Italy, it's in football terms, under the guise of the Italian FA. I think if The Vatican make an application to join FIFA, it should be rejected out-of-hand.



TRC and GRC make up Cyprus. Nicosia, where Cyprus often play International games, is on the border of the two areas. Cyprus is a recognised member of UEFA, and FIFA. Case closed.



Tibet is occupied by China, fair enough. Therefore, it comes under the auspices of the Chinese FA. China is a member of FIFA. If/when Tibet is an independent sovereign state, the situation can then be reviewed.

Look lads, if every region in the world applied for FIFA membership, there would be about 400 members. Where do you draw the line? Quebec, Lapland, Catalonia, the Basque country? These regions are not independent sovereign states, so any application for FIFA membership from them should be rejected, until the political situation in those regions changes to such an extent that their applications should be reviewed.

Unfortunately (??) your opinion that the Vatican is just an area of Rome does not change the fact that Vatican City is an internationally recognised independent state. Their FA is already busy with membership application and odds are 90% they will be allowed in - there are no reasons for FIFA to refuse membership to a sovereign country with a structured FA. So no matter if you like it or not, the Vatican will most likely join up and play Ireland, France and other countries in the very near future.

TRC and GRC make up Cyprus geographically. Administratively there are two units, just like Ireland is divided politically between Northern Ireland and Eire. Turkish Rep of Northern Cyprus is administratively nor culturally affiliated with the part south of the border, so that they form an own football entity is not more than normal. I would hope that the two parts will unite soon, both politically, socially and in football terms, but unfortunately we are not very close to a united Cyprus I'm afraid.

And Tibet should be allowed in IMO. The Chinese FA will not do much to develop the game in the area, and Tibet is a country (that happens to be occupied and thus administratively part of the PR China).

I have no problems and am even pro membership for colonies. Maybe not if they're close to the mainland, like in the case of Isle of Man. But the Falklands for example are so far away from the UK mainland that they will not associate with the football teams of England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Add the fact that due to the distance no clubs will enter English tournaments and thus the fact that it's unlikely that a Falklands native will ever be selected for one of the four mainland UK teams. So I'd say in this case the membership of Falklands would be justified, same for Greenland, Gibraltar, St-Helena (though haven't shown interest in joining FIFA, ...).

The fact that we'd have more countries is an organisation problem for FIFA to handle with, and this should not stop countries or far-away and more or less sovereign places to be able to join. If we stop people and nations from playing because FIFA could have the problem of having to organise more games, then we make football an elitist game. Don't forget that Ireland has no more rights to claim a place than some of the countries mentionned ; a Tuvaluan has as many rights as an Irishman, and refusing their membership is like looking down on them.
Greenland for example is maybe administratively part of Denmark, but they have their own parliament, language, cultural identity, laws, ... They're very far from Danish mainland as well. I'd say it would only make sense to let them in.

Then a sidenote: i don't know who refered to San Marino in the same breath as the Faroe Islands... San Marino is a fully sovereign country and is even older than Italy itself. They remained independent when all other smaller states in the region formed Italy. San Marino is a country just like Eire, Belgium, UK, Germany, ... They're as sovereign as the ROI.

[Plastic Paddy]

it's unlikely that a Falklands native will ever be selected for one of the four mainland UK teams

I thought there were only three teams on the "mainland".

Get the map out, Gerrit...

PP

[Islander]

Let's not forget that countries, areas or what you might choose to call present and forthcoming minnow members FIFA, would have to compete in their representative part of their world. So the Vatican must also be a member of UEFA to take part in qualifying for the WC and EC. The Falkland Islands must be a member of the South American Football Confederation to qualify for the WC and Copa America etc etc. Man, I like the thought of the Falklands beating the crap out of the Argentineans!

Does anyone know if there is any automation in when becoming a FIFA member, you also become a member of ex. UEFA or other football organisation?

[Gerrit]

No. Some countries (San Marino and Mongolia for example) affiliated to FIFA first and affiliated to their continent's federation a few years later. I don't think though that a continental organisation will have any objections once a state has been accepted by FIFA.

You can also apply for a federation from another continent, but it's more unlikely the federation will let them in. IN THEORY, New Zealand could apply for UEFA membership. The only few of these teams that were given exceptions are Surinam (CONCACAF instead of Conmebol), Israel (UEFA instead of AFC), Kazachstan (UEFA instead of AFC) maybe soon Australia (AFC instead of OFC ). Not sure if Guam is administratively in Asia (where they play) or in Oceania.
Israel being an exception though, they were let in by UEFA after both AFC and the African federation kicked them out because of political issues. Then UEFA picked them up. They have a lot in common with Derry, don't they ?

I'd love Falklands in the Conmebol beating those Brazilian ego's. One of my football dreams is a game in Maracana, packed with 200000 arrogant Brazilians, all being devastated after tiny Falklands beat the full-strenghth Brazil in their own ground.

[Gerrit]

www.nf-board.com = site for the alternative World Cup for non-FIFA members (participators include Western Sahara, TR Northern Cyprus, Greenland, ...)

[Qwerty]

No. Some countries (San Marino and Mongolia for example) affiliated to FIFA first and affiliated to their continent's federation a few years later. I don't think though that a continental organisation will have any objections once a state has been accepted by FIFA.

You can also apply for a federation from another continent, but it's more unlikely the federation will let them in. IN THEORY, New Zealand could apply for UEFA membership. The only few of these teams that were given exceptions are Surinam (CONCACAF instead of Conmebol), Israel (UEFA instead of AFC), Kazachstan (UEFA instead of AFC) maybe soon Australia (AFC instead of OFC ). Not sure if Guam is administratively in Asia (where they play) or in Oceania.
Israel being an exception though, they were let in by UEFA after both AFC and the African federation kicked them out because of political issues. Then UEFA picked them up. They have a lot in common with Derry, don't they ?

I'd love Falklands in the Conmebol beating those Brazilian ego's. One of my football dreams is a game in Maracana, packed with 200000 arrogant Brazilians, all being devastated after tiny Falklands beat the full-strenghth Brazil in their own ground.

In all fairness Brazilians are not arrogant about their football teams, they have a much better claim to be the 'best fans in the world' as opposed to our arrogant claims to this trophyless title.

[Gerrit]

I don't like Brazil at all, I'm looking through coloured glasses on this one. I always support against them.

Brazilian football is not my thing at all. All their technical trics, trying to ridiculise the opponent... The few Brazilian fans I met are also true gloryhunters - perhaps it's a wrong image but the ones I met were all the sort of folks that find it the most normal thing in the world if Brazil wins everything without even having to tire themselves. Maybe I just met the wrong fans...

Best fans in the world ? I'd nominate Jamaica for that. Very colourful, always present (despite the average Jamaican not having that much money to travel), always very noisy but never taunting, never causing any troubles.

[anto eile]

I don't like Brazil at all, I'm looking through coloured glasses on this one. I always support against them.

Brazilian football is not my thing at all. All their technical trics, trying to ridiculise the opponent... The few Brazilian fans I met are also true gloryhunters - perhaps it's a wrong image but the ones I met were all the sort of folks that find it the most normal thing in the world if Brazil wins everything without even having to tire themselves. Maybe I just met the wrong fans...

Best fans in the world ? I'd nominate Jamaica for that. Very colourful, always present (despite the average Jamaican not having that much money to travel), always very noisy but never taunting, never causing any troubles.

but i wonder how many jamaicans regularly attend club games of their local team??and howm many of them attended international games before they got good in 1998
maracana holds 90,000 so youd be hard pressed to stick 200,000 into it these days

[gaf1983]

Gerrit you seem to love trivia about small nations' football teams.

[Cowboy]

I'd love Falklands in the Conmebol beating those Brazilian ego's. One of my football dreams is a game in Maracana, packed with 200000 arrogant Brazilians, all being devastated after tiny Falklands beat the full-strenghth Brazil in their own ground.

Would the same rules apply as per Puerto Rico where any American can play, IE Falklands could pick any British passport holder.