Jersey FA's president: 'A lot of benefits to us' becoming members of UEFA

The Jersey Football Association is speaking up ahead of the inaugural draw for the UEFA Nations League.

As the Guardian's Ewan Murray detailed, the Jersey FA wants to become the 56th member of European football's governing body and believes the Nations League is its chance to get into the international game.

In September, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ordered that the Jersey FA's application be forwarded to the UEFA Congress for consideration, dismissing the request to "take all necessary measures to admit the JFA as a full member of UEFA without delay." Bratislava, Slovakia will stage the UEFA Congress on Feb. 26.

"If you look at UEFA's principles on their website, the top one says 'Football First,'" Phil Austin, the Jersey FA's president, told the Guardian. "There would clearly be a lot of benefits to us (to become members); the benefit to UEFA would be extending the football family. 'Football First' to me says that's what they should be doing.

"For us it is essential to have a regular competitive games programme. We have never expected to be playing Germany and England. We have been advocating for a while there should be a tiered basis and now they have brought in the Nations League, we would see ourselves fitting quite naturally into Category D with teams like Gibraltar and Liechtenstein. We have played against those teams; we see that as our peer group. There is even a space because 55 teams is an even number."

The draw for the UEFA Nations League is scheduled for Wednesday and will see 55 European national teams divided into four leagues - from League A to League D - in accordance with UEFA's national association coefficient rankings. European football's governing body believes it will improve the quality and standing of international football, as friendlies aren't providing adequate competition.

Jersey is a crown dependency located near the coast of Normandy, France.