The President of a Spanish football club in La Linea has protested strongly at the treatment of Gibraltarian children by the football authorities across the border. The news that Gibraltarian children are experiencing difficulties when registering to play for a Spanish football club is deeply regrettable.
This will only serve to generate further mistrust of Spain and is at odds with the public climate of goodwill and cooperation which is being proclaimed by all sides.
POLITICSWhile the root cause of the issue is not clear, it will escape nobody that Spain has often mixed politics with sport in different modalities. Football, in particular, was at the receiving end of this hostile Spanish policy for decades. The Gibraltar Football Association, one of the oldest on the planet, was blocked by its Spanish counterpart from joining the European and World governing bodies of the sport. This happened on political instructions from Spain’s Consejo Superior de Deportes. The Gibraltar FA was finally admitted to UEFA in May 2013, followed by FIFA in May 2016, after a lengthy legal battle.
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18-11-22 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR