© EuroFootball.com
The Montenegrin Football Federation became the 53rd member of UEFA - the decision was made at the 31st UEFA Congress in Düsseldorf to officially accept the newly formed state, which received the final right to join the organization after the decision of the executive committee last year.
"It means a lot to us that we will be able to play international matches. We are entering a great football family and it is a great opportunity for our young players and for us to represent our country," said Dejan Savicevic, president of the Montenegrin Football Federation and former player of "Milan" and the Yugoslav national team.
Montenegro, which separated from the joint state with Serbia in the middle of last year, is also already participating in the FIFA admission process. For the first time as a separate team, the Montenegrin national team will take to the field in a friendly match against Hungary on March 24 in Podgorica.
Meanwhile, the ten-year struggle of Gibraltar for recognition has ended in failure. Due to the decision of the Sports Arbitration Court, the UEFA Executive Committee temporarily accepted Gibraltar in December, but the final decision had to be made by the Congress, and its participants almost unanimously rejected the application.
When temporarily accepting Gibraltar, UEFA feared that it could set a precedent and lead to membership demands from the Basque and Catalan territories belonging to Spain, or any region of Germany.
Gibraltar is a territory of just 6.5 square kilometers south of Spain. It is home to 28 thousand people and among them there is not a single professional football player, but a national championship is organized, where 5 teams compete for the title of champions.
