I am assuming the reason Israel is a member of UEFA
is due to political and safety concerns. More specifically Israel's lack of trust that the other Middle East countries could guarantee the safety of the team and any fans that decide to travel to an away match. The lack of trust may even extend to the "-stans" in central Asia. My guess is that Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia is based on either cultural and/or historical ties when they were members of the Soviet Union.
As far as Asia/Oceania goes, FIFA should probably combine the 2 groups. I guess ideally, every country connected to the continent should be a member of the AFC. While all the islands should probably be a member of the OFC. However, it makes things complicated for countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia (could be a member of both groups), Japan, and maybe even Madagascar (technically an island, but member of African group). If 1 island country gets an exemption, then other island countries will want them too.
|
(
In response to this post by Atlee Hokie)
Posted: 10/10/2017 at 5:13PM