ALMATY Kazakhstan have resigned as a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in the hope of joining UEFA, the country's soccer chiefs said on Wednesday.

"Football competition grew up in Kazakhstan in the European tradition," said Football Union of Kazakhstan President Rakhat Aliyev in a statement.

"Kazakhstan has been seeking membership of UEFA since 1996. It should come as no surprise that we regard ourselves as part of European football. We are happy to return to UEFA."

Aliyev added that, prior to the breakup of the old Soviet Union, Kazakhstan's teams competed with other European clubs within UEFA, Reuters reported.

Gerhard Aigner, the chief executive of UEFA, has said that Kazakhstan could only apply to join UEFA if they were not already a member of another association.

Kazakhstan's application to join UEFA is likely to be approved.

UEFA President Lennart Johansson said last month: "I am certainly in favor. It is a vast country with a very serious interest in football and we would welcome them."

Kazakhstan could join UEFA at the congress to be held by European soccer's governing body in Stockholm next April.

A vast Central Asian state with a population of 15 million, Kazakhstan was granted membership of the AFC together with its four regional neighbors in 1994 after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

A large chunk of Kazakh territory lies in Europe, and many refer to the country as Eurasian rather than Central Asian.

UEFA currently has 51 member associations.