Country can be quite an ambiguous term, it’s often understood to mean a sovereign state; a distinct entity in political geography. So how many are there? Well it really depends on who you ask. There are 190 states that are undisputed, everyone is very happy to acknowledge their existence and play along nicely. Then there are 16 states that are disputed by at least one other state, this is normally due to territorial wars or political arguments. The Caucasus region provides ample examples as the de facto independent states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia find themselves in a complicated struggle for complete independence from Georgia which is funded by Russia and supported by few other sovereign states. Do they count as countries? Perhaps we should look at the 193 states that the United Nations recognises although that does leave Taiwan, Vatican City and Palestine out on the sidelines. Then you get to the awkward issue of the United Kingdom which is a sovereign state in every regard but is made up of four individual countries each with their own parliament, national anthem and most importantly a national football team.

As you can see, there isn’t a catch-all figure for an exact number and it’s very probable that there never will be. Possibly the most relevant to us would be FIFA’s official member list for national teams which currently stands at a whopping 209. If you’re wondering why this number is considerably higher than that of the UN, the answer is that they take a much more liberal view of what defines a country (see below) allowing plenty more regions and dependencies to be represented on the national stage. The Cook Islands is a good example; although primarily self-governing, they are a representative democracy in an associated state with New Zealand. Would Cook Islanders feel well represented in the world of International Football cheering on the New Zealand national team? Likely not. Despite a population of less than 20,000, FIFA accepted the application from the FA of the Cook Islands in 1994 and they have since participated in World Cup qualifiers and various regional tournaments.

So how do you apply to become a full member of FIFA? The 2008 FIFA Statute states “Any Association which is responsible for organising and supervising football in its country may become a member of FIFA.” Here’s the key part: “In this context, the expression ‘Country’ shall refer to an independent state recognised by the international community.” By using vague terminology such as ‘International Community’, FIFA have opened the door for more states to seek representation by way of a national team. Take Gibraltar for instance, it would be quite an awkward case to argue that they are a country. They’re not a sovereign state but a British Overseas Territory in which all citizens carry a British passport and the UN recognises them as a non-self-governing territory rather than a member state. Very similar to the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States if you’re familiar.

The Statute continues: “An association in a region which has not yet gained independence may, with the authorisation of the Association in the country on which it is dependent, also apply for admission for FIFA.” Gibraltar applied for membership with the governing body in Europe (UEFA) in four times between 1999 and 2013. The reason for the lengthy process was mostly due to Spain threatening to not enter any UEFA competitions should Gibraltar gain membership, their issues with the territory were not just that they claimed ownership over the Rock but also that it would set a precedent for Catalunya and the Basque Country to apply also. Gibraltar was granted full UEFA membership in May 2013 after appealing the verdict at the Court of Arbitration for Sport which meant they could participate in the qualifiers for the 2016 European Championship.

Unless you’ve been in a cave for over a decade, you’re likely to be familiar with the issues regarding corruption and politics within FIFA and it’s to no surprise that their decision on Gibraltar Football Association’s (GFA) application was to deny it on the grounds that they are not an independent country. This is in despite of the fact that there are already 22 full FIFA members which are not independent countries. The GFA are appealing the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport once again in the hope that the decision can get overturned as it did previously with UEFA. Gibraltar is just one example of how awkward and difficult it can be to gain membership to what is supposed to be a governing body devoid of political pressure solely set up to govern and further the development of football worldwide.

So what choices are there for regions, dependencies, disputed territories and remote communities to represent themselves on the international stage without trudging through the red tape and brown envelopes? One would be to have a regional Football Association although this is only really viable when part of an already established FA. The island of Jersey is a good example of this, they have their own FA which oversees all local football on the island but are also under the umbrella of the English FA. This allows Jersey to enter their own team to international events such as the Island Games and the Muratti Vase (an annual competition between Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney).

For a region already with a high degree of autonomy or seeking to become more autonomous, it’s often unlikely that the FA of the country which has jurisdiction over said region would be comfortable allowing significant amounts of freedom to represent themselves as an independent region and are forced to going it alone. The Nouvelle Fédération-Board (N.F-Board) was set up in 2003 to represent football associations not affiliated with FIFA. The current member list includes among others; the disputed territory of Northern Cyprus, Zanzibar (the semi-autonomous region of Tanzania), Somaliland (a self-declared republic of Somalia), Occitania (a region of Southern Europe where the Occitan language is spoken) and Cascadia (a bioregion of the United States and Canada). The N.F-Board arranges their own tournament for it’s member nations called the VIVA World Cup, the last tournament in 2014 was held jointly in Occitania and Provence. Tamil Eelam (representing a proposed independant state in Sri Lanka) won the final against Zanzibar 3-0. Other organizations which serve a similar role include CONIFA (Confederation of Independent Football Associations), IGA (Island Games Association) and MFA (Micronational Football Association).

With so many new tournaments and federations dedicated to raising awareness of non-FIFA affiliated football and helping relatively small communities the opportunity to represent themselves in the world’s most global sport, there’s never been a better time to follow the national game at every level.