‘NMI qualified for FIFA membership’

FIFA Council member Chung Mong-Gyu of South Korea, right, poses for a photo with Northern Mariana Islands Football Association president Jerry Tan during the former’s visit to Saipan over the weekend. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

A high-ranking Fédération Internationale de Football Association official believes the CNMI is qualified to gain full membership from the international governing body of the sport.

FIFA Council member Chung Mong-Gyu said he is aware of the football programs in place in the Commonwealth through the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, the CNMI’s active involvement in both the East Asian Football Association and Asian Football Confederation tournaments and other activities, and the hard work that NMIFA officials are doing to continue the development of the sport here. These factors, according to him, make the CNMI qualified for full membership to FIFA and AFC. The CNMI is an associate member of AFC and has been seeking full membership to FIFA in the last six years.

“NMIFA is qualified,” said Chung, who arrived on Saipan last Saturday for a short visit and to see the situation of the sport on the island.
“It’s even more qualified than other small countries that wish to become FIFA members,” added Chung, who is elected to the powerful FIFA Council just this year.

The FIFA Council is the main decision-making arm of the federation, including working on recommendations on countries that should be welcomed to the FIFA family. This October, the FIFA Council will meet and Chung said NMIFA’s application will be mentioned in their discussion.

Chung, who is also the president of the Korean Football Association and vice president of both EAFF and AFC, likened the CNMI’s situation to Gilbratar, which along with Kosovo were granted FIFA full membership last year during the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico City.

“Gilbratar is a small country with a small population, probably smaller than the CNMI, but they were admitted to FIFA because they have a strong program and have been consistently competing internationally,” Chung said.

Gilbratar is under British rule and listed a population of only 32,000 when it was granted FIFA full membership last year. It became a member of the Union of European Football Associations in 2013, was denied FIFA membership in 2014, but won an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sports a few weeks before the 66th FIFA Congress.

Meanwhile, NMIFA president Jerry Tan is confident that the CNMI will be admitted to FIFA.

“For the last 12 years, we’ve been working hard in developing our program, which we started from scratch. We begin working with our grassroots (6-and-under) all the way up to our national youth and adult teams, both in the men’s and women’s divisions. For the last seven or eight years, we’ve received and attended seminars and workshops for coaches, players, and officials. Right now, we, through the help of our CNMI government, are working on building our first artificial turf. I believe these are crucial in the evaluation for our application to FIFA,” Tan said.

“I am also proud to say that we are a very active federation, joining every EAFF and AFC tournaments that we’ve been invited to. I believe FIFA expect us to do these things, so I am confident we will get that membership,” the NMIFA head added.

Full membership to FIFA is important to every country that works on the continued development of football in their area. FIFA members get assistance, not only in funding, but also in logistics and other resources from the world governing body.

Tan expressed his gratitude to Chung for visiting the island and assessing the situation of the sports here.

“We are honored to have him here and witness the development of football in the CNMI. NMIFA is very thankful to him for taking the time out from his very schedule to visit us. Mr. Chung is not only an active sports official, but also a successful businessman,” Tan added.