ALMATY Former Soviet republic Kazakhstan are to lobby FIFA and UEFA in an attempt to become the 52nd member of the European confederation.

The Kazakhs gained independence when the Soviet Union broke up in the early nineties and were granted membership of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation in 1994.

But Kazakhstan are unhappy at being in the AFC and claim they are more European than Asian.

"Twelve percent of Kazakhstan is in Europe," said a source from the KFA.

"That's 400,000 square kilometers. Turkey only has three percent in Europe but they are in UEFA. Israel has no land in Europe yet they are in UEFA as well."

"Our president has met with Sepp Blatter and Lennart Johannson and we hope the issue will come up at the FIFA congress in Korea before the World Cup."

Rahat Aliyev took over from Kuralbek Ordabaeyev late last year and since then the Kazakhs have been pushing for inclusion in Europe along with the majority of former Soviet nations.

Five nations joined the AFC in 1994, with Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan joining Kazakhstan in Asia.

Greenland, which is geographically closer to North America but has strong cultural links with Scandinavia, is also considering an application to join UEFA which currently has 51 member associations.

(Reuter)