ZURICH: The Kosovo saga has been pushed back for another two months by FIFA’s executive committee.

President Sepp Blatter indicated, after an executive committee meeting in Zurich, that the issue had been complicated by a change of government in neighbouring Serbia.

The unhappy Serb federation has been a party to negotiations after FIFA’s executive decided in May that Kosovar teams – though the state is not a formal member of the United Nations and football family – should be cleared to play FIFA member teams.

Blatter and secretary-general Jerome Valcke has met delegations from both Kosovo and Serbia over the “modalities” of how such matches may be organized and approved.

“Both parties are coming near and nearer together to find a solution,” said Blatter in Zurich. “As they will have a new government in Serbia by the end of this month we have decided to postpone the decision of modalities until the next ordinary meeting of the executive committee on September 27 and 28 here in Zurich.”

In other decisions, the executive committee appointed Jeffrey Webb – new president of CONCACAF – to the emergency committee and finance committee.

KEIR RADNEDGE

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