Uefa to visit Jersey for second time as island aims for international football

Jersey beat Guernsey in their last match, the Muratti Vase final, in May

Uefa delegates are to visit Jersey for a second time next month as the island continues its bid to become an international footballing nation.

They have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after Uefa decided not to allow their congress to discuss the Channel Island's bid.

Jersey initially applied for membership last December, but were refused as the island is not an independent nation.

They want to emulate Gibraltar, who became full Uefa members in 2013.

The island's footballing authorities feel there are not enough opportunities for their best players to test themselves and improve, and Uefa officials first visited Jersey in September.

"On the back of the application that was made a few months ago Uefa made a commitment to come over to Jersey to see what was going on," the island's football development officer Brian Oliver told BBC Radio Jersey.

"We'll be having some discussions around what's being provided in Jersey in terms of football and where some of the gaps are, and what some of the challenges are for us to be able to move the game forward.

"We've got some really good facilities, an excellent programme of football and very good infrastructure.

"There's just one little missing bit in terms of our programme and we'll be keen to impress that on the delegation from Uefa and the FA hopefully to see where we need a little bit of support."