Spain will exhaust all legal means to prevent Gibraltar from UEFA membership

Wednesday, October 3rd 2012 - 01:23 UTC

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UEFA president Michel Platini during the announcement in St Petersburg

Spain will “exhaust all legal means” to prevent the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar gaining full membership of UEFA, Sports Minister Jose Ignacio Wert said. Gibraltar was admitted as a provisional member of European soccer's governing body on Monday and a decision on whether to grant full membership will be taken at a UEFA Congress in London next May.

Wert, whose portfolio also includes education and culture, said Gibraltar's provisional membership meant it could not yet take part in UEFA competition and said his ministry and the foreign ministry would work to block full membership.

“We have already said we will exhaust all legal means,” he told Spanish TV broadcaster Telemadrid. “I can say that we are reasonably optimistic that this provisional condition will not become a definitive acceptance.”

Spain claims sovereignty over Gibraltar, which sits at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean. The territory - which has an area of about seven square kilometres and a population of 28,000 - was ceded to Britain under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

Gibraltar's case for UEFA membership has been strengthened by a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling that the governing body must consider its membership.

The territory's government criticised Spain's opposition to it joining UEFA on Monday, saying in a statement that “football and all sport should never be allowed to mix with politics”.

“Gibraltar's footballers are ready to excel in international competition and to become the 54th member of UEFA and it is hoped that no further obstacles will be put in their way” the statement added.

UEFA president Michel Platini made the announcement of Gibraltar’s readmission in St Petersburg. The measure came into effect on October first, 2012. The information was posted on the UEFA website Sunday afternoon.

UEFA originally granted Gibraltar provisional membership back in 2006 and said it had “no choice but to admit the Gibraltar Football Association as a provisional member” following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in July of that year.

Categories: Politics, International.

Tags: Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Gibraltar, Jose Ignacio Wert, Michel Platini, Spain, UEFA.

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British_Kirchnerist
Shouldn't Gibralter compete as part of Britain, or part of Spain. How's the Gibraltarian FA, lots of big teams in it??
Oct 03rd, 2012 - 02:48 am 0
enviroc
@1: Britain has no entries in the UEFA championships. It's based on leagues, so Scotland is a member, and England and Wales are members.

The Spanish are still trying the “if we persecute you, you'll learn to love us” approach (same as Argentina with the Falklands).

What the Spanish ought to do is invite Gibraltar to play in their league system, and give them a friendly welcome. I suspect the Gibraltarians would decline, and might cite border harassment as a reason (Not sure if the Spanish are still acting as ****holes on the border crossing - they were when I was there several years ago).

As long as Gibraltar has a seperate league, they'll gain entry. I assume its the same for Luxembourg and other small countries. (Anyone know about Andorra - independent but governed by Spain).
Oct 03rd, 2012 - 05:13 am 0
Boovis
My neighbour had a dog. Every time anyone went past his house to work, the dog tried to bite them and the neighbour tried to steal their wallets. We got fed up with this so I went to his house, beat him up, and took his dog. Now he's my dog and he's nice and quiet, people now go to work in peace. Last week the neighbour asked for his dog back and said he was a nicer person now, I said we remembered how the dog was in his hands, but said I'd have a think, but then he posted rubbish through my letterbox, that reminded me he hadn't and wouldn't change, now he'll definitely not get it back. The dog likes me too, we're happy.
Oct 03rd, 2012 - 05:25 am 0

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