- Last July, UEFA announced that it would not recognise the Basque Federation as a member of it, a decision that did not surprise anyone. The application for membership, however, was rejected by the executive committees of both entities, when they do not have "competences" for this purpose, according to the Basque Football Federation (EFF). He therefore pointed out that the request should be sent to the UEFA and FIFA congresses "to decide on the subject".
The Basque Football Federation has explained that, if it accepts its allegations, it will have the option of defending its candidature at FIFA and UEFA congresses. "In December 2020, the Basque Football Federation (FVF) formally applied to UEFA and FIFA for membership of these entities," the note states. "This request was rejected by UEFA and FIFA Executive Committees resolutions of 11 and 31 July 2021 respectively. However, the EFF considers that, according to the statutes of both international organisations, negative decisions were issued by bodies which did not have competence. Thus, according to the applicable regulations, the competence to get to know these issues corresponds to the congresses of both institutions".
The Federation cites two antecedents: "The same opinion has been expressed by TAS (Arbitral Tribunal for Sport) in its resolutions CAS 2016/A/4787 and CAS 2014/A/3776, in relation to applications for membership made by the football federations of Jersey and Gibraltar, respectively. In those resolutions, the TAS considered that the UEFA Executive Committee and FIFA do not have the power to reject the application for membership of their bodies and that the application should be referred to the UEFA and FIFA Congresses to decide on the matter."