FIFA and UEFA try to block Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Football Association became a provisional member of UEFA last week but charges FIFA and UEFA of trying to block the association in its bid for recognition by European football's ruling body.

"While noting the grudging nature of the UEFA Executive Committee's decision the GFA greatly welcomes the decision to grant provisional membership of UEFA," a GFA statement read.

"It is unfortunate it has taken so many years and three legal judgments before finally complying with their duties. The GFA hopes it will not take a similar number of years and court cases for it to obtain the full membership it is entitled to."

UEFA, which will discuss Gibraltar's application for full membership at the UEFA's Congress in Dusseldorf in January, said it had no choice but to allow Gibraltar provisional membership but pointed out that world football's governing body FIFA had determined the British territory did not meet its requirements.

"As FIFA knows from the CAS rulings, the FIFA statutes that apply to the GFA's application are those in place between 1997 and 1999, when we met all their statutory requirements," the GFA statement continued.

UEFA's chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said the Executive Committee was against Gibraltar's full membership since it might have consequences beyond the disputed territory, which Spain claims sovereignty over.

"The GFA situation is different because our application was made before UEFA statutes were changed (2002). If any application were received from the Basques or Catalans etc. in the future, it would not comply with the current statutes and would fail," they said.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.