SportGibraltar

Football: GFA's Joey Nunez sees red and yellow in UEFA decision

• Nuñez indicates more litigation
GFA President Joey Nunez has described the UEFA Executive Council’s postponement of its decision on Gibraltar’s application for admission into the organisation as “scandalous.”

Mr Nuñez said: “This comes as a complete surprise and is totally illegal. It was not in their remit to take such a course of action. The legal rights of Gibraltar joining had already been approved by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July.”

“The only option for the UEFA Executive was to declare ‘yes’ as they did with the Montenegro bid and refer it to the UEFA Congress for approval in January.”

He added: “This is a total breach of the CAS order. This is the third occasion, since 1999, when they have been in contravention of their own rules. The only immediate option for us is to consult our Swiss lawyers regarding our next move.”

PDP REACTION
Meanwhile the PDP says it “regrets the decision taken by the UEFA” to postpone the decision on Gibraltar’s admission until December.

In a statement a party spokesman said: “This decision followed the submission of material from the Spanish Federation in a late attempt to derail Gibraltar’s application.

The stance taken by UEFA is in flagrant breach of the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and we condemn this.”

“Yesterday Spanish official quarters and the Spanish media were congratulating themselves on temporarily blocking Gibraltar’s membership. Is this and the Spanish remarks on sovereignty at the United Nations evidence of the new historic climate of goodwill from Spain? The PDP is fully supportive of the Gibraltar Football Association’s efforts to ensure that Gibraltar is admitted.” (Chronicle.gi)

UEFA confirms Spanish pressure on Gibraltar decision
A UEFA spokesperson has confirmed that documents presented by the Spanish Football Federation have led to the latest delay in the acceptance of Gibraltar within UEFA.

In comments to the international media, a UEFA official is quoted as claiming that "The Spanish FA has brought to our attention a number of documents recently discovered in their archives, and the executive committee felt there was no time to examine them before its decision today.

"And since no draws or competitions (involving Gibraltar) are taking place in that time, nobody would suffer any damage."

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) for its part has stated that

"The considered and well-reasoned intervention of RFEF president Angel Maria Villar at the executive committee meeting convinced them to take into account his arguments..."

Why does UEFA bar Gibraltar's entry?

The governing bodies for World and European Football, FIFA and UEFA are barring the Gibraltar Football Association’s membership of these organisations for some time now… Why?

In 2001, after years of continuous lobbying and preparation by the GFA council, headed by Joey Nunez, UEFA dealt a massive blow to the GFA’s efforts by keeping the issue of Gibraltar’s entry in abeyance until 2003. After their application had been favourably received, but before it had been determined, UEFA changed the rules so as to allow only national states for the future to be become members.
(Click here: to read the rest of the article in Gibraltarnewsonline.com)

Home (top)

SportGibraltar FORUM to discuss sport on the Rock

Visit our ARCHIVEs section to read up on past posts --->