Gibraltar Football Association

National football association

Founded = 1895
FIFA affiliation = N/A
Region = FA
Region affiliation = 1909
President = Joseph Nuñez
Website = [http://gfa.gi GFA.gi] The Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) was formed as the "Gibraltar Civilian Football Association" in 1895, changing to its current name in later years. It is one of the oldest football associations in the world.

History

The GFA was formed as an increasing number of football clubs were coming into existence in Gibraltar, and the association was designed to bring some form of organisation to the game there. Between the association's formation and 1907 the only football competition in Gibraltar was the "Merchant's Cup". However, in 1907 the GFA established a league to complement the existing cup competition.

By 1901 the GFA had established a representative national team, competing against British military teams. This representative team continued to play down the years, their highlight probably being a draw against Real Madrid C.F. in 1949.

FIFA application

The GFA affiliated with The Football Association in 1909, but is currently trying to become a full member of FIFA so that its national team is allowed to compete in more international competitions. This attempt was met with fierce opposition from the Spanish Football Federation [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/6215286.stm|title=Gibraltar close in on Uefa place|accessdate=2008-09-22|last=|first=|date=8 December, 2006] |publisher=BBC|quote=And in 2000, the Spanish Football Federation said it radically opposed Gibraltar's membership of the organisation and would refuse to take part in any competition which involved the colony.] and has been unsuccessful to date.

The GFA's application for becoming a member of FIFA was filed in 1997. Two years later, FIFA confirmed the opening of the procedure and forwarded the GFA application to the appropriate continental confederation, UEFA, since according to FIFA statutes it is the responsibility of confederations to grant membership status to applicants. In 2000, a joint delegation of UEFA and FIFA conducted an inspection on the GFA's facilities and infrastructure. The Spanish Football Association strongly opposed to the GFA's application. [ [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/GIBRALTAR/ESPAnA/ESPAnA/GIBRALTAR/FEDERACIoN_ESPAnOLA_DE_FuTBOL/UEFA/apoyo/Gobierno/partidos/elpepidep/20000825elpepidep_2/Tes El apoyo del Gobierno y de los partidos] es] However, in 2001, the UEFA changed its statutes so that only associations in a country "recognised by the United Nations as an independent State" could become members. On such grounds, UEFA denied the GFA's application. The GFA appealed to the world's highest sporting court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which in 2003 ruled that the GFA application should be handled according to the old statute. [ [http://jurisprudence.tas-cas.org/sites/CaseLaw/Shared%20Documents/410.pdf Arbitration CAS 2002/O/410 The Gibraltar Football Association (GFA)/Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA), award of 7 October 2003] ] However, the UEFA continued to refuse accepting the GFA as member.

In August 2006, the CAS ruled again that Gibraltar had to be allowed as a full UEFA and FIFA member. No protest was possible against this decision, which meant that Gibraltar was now likely to join UEFA. It should be noted that current FIFA and UEFA members include several federations which cannot be said to represent independent nations, such as Puerto Rico, Chinese Taipei (which is only recognized by 23 countries and not by the United Nations), the Faroe Islands, and New Caledonia. French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Martin each have national teams which, despite not being FIFA members, are allowed to compete at the CONCACAF confederation level.

On 8 December 2006, it was announced that Gibraltar had become a provisional member of UEFA. On 26 January 2007 in the UEFA Congress held in Düsseldorf (Germany), Gibraltar's application to become a full member of UEFA was rejected, with 45 votes against it. Gibraltar received 3 favourable votes from England, Scotland and Wales. 4 votes were undecided.cite news | url=http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2007-01-27T003231Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-285193-1.xml | title=UEFA admits Montenegro, rejects Gibraltar | publisher=Reuters | date=27 January 2007 ]

This was after intense lobbying of the member nations by the Spanish Football Federation's president Ángel María Villar to vote against the inclusion of Gibraltar. Villar was quoted to have attributed Spain's opposition to the Spanish claim over Gibraltar [cite web|url=http://playthegame.org/News/Up_To_Date/Gibraltar_to_become_member_of_UEFA_despite_Spanish_resistance.aspx|title=Gibraltar to become member of UEFA despite Spanish resistance|accessdate=2008-09-22|last=Sparre|first=Kirsten|date=8 September, 2006] |publisher=playthegame.org|quote=This happened after pressure from Spain which still claims sovereignty over Gibraltar after it was ceded to Britain under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. It refuses to recognise Gibraltar and there is an edict from the Consejo Superior de Deportes to all sports federations in Spain that they should block any membership application from organisations in Gibraltar.] He also claimed it was a political issue and referred to the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. [cite web|url=http://www.gibraltar.gi/locals/news.php?action=view_article&article=1910|title=Gibraltar's bid fails 'through political pressure from Spain'|accessdate=2008-09-22|date=26 January, 2007] |publisher=Panorama|quote=Villar is quoted as having said that "it is a political issue and since 1713 we have not found a political solution to this situation, because it is so difficult to resolve."]

ee also

* Football in Gibraltar
* Gibraltar national football team

References

External links

* [http://www.gfa.gi GFA Website]
* [http://www.footballmedia.eu/site/four_nations_2008_teams_gibraltar.html Gibraltar's historic Four Nations Tournament campaign]
* [http://www.gibraltarfootball.com/ Website campaigning for GFA to become full UEFA and FIFA member]
* [http://sportgibraltar.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html Sportgibraltar with references to Herald Tribune etc.]
* [http://sportgibraltar.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html Sportgibraltar with references to Gibraltar Chronicle]
* [http://www.uefa.com/uefa/Keytopics/kind=64/newsId=464331.html Spanish Football Federation interfering at UEFA]
*BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/894300.stm report on entry to] UEFA
*BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/6215286.stm report on GFA's provisional status entry] UEFA