PoJ FC – formed in 2018 to represent the Island alongside ‘nations’ not recognised by Fifa – are set to travel north from 31 May-2 June for a four-team, winner-takes-all event against hosts Yorkshire, Kernow [Cornwall] and Ellan Vannin [Isle of Man].
The top-ranked team will be allocated a place at ConIFA’s next global tournament – due to be held in Somaliland, a self-declared state within Somalia.
However, it is unlikely any of the four UK squads will actually take up that offer due to security concerns and ‘no-travel’ advice given by the British Foreign Office.
PoJ founder and manager James Scott said: ‘It’s a round-robin tournament and the winner gets an automatic qualifying spot for the World Cup, but even for the three teams who don’t win there are still ConIFA ranking points up for grabs. That’s the reason why we pushed for three games, to try and get as many points as we possibly can over one weekend.
‘The Isle of Man won gold at the last Island Games in Gotland, so we know all about them, and we played Yorkshire recently and had a very challenging game.
‘We know nothing about Cornwall, but I would imagine they’ll have a big pool of players to choose from so it will be a very challenging tournament for sure.’
ConIFA officials are due to visit Somaliland this week to assess the region’s suitability to host the event.
More to follow.
