Morata and the team were congratulated by the Spanish Royal Family
Credit: SM Casa El Rey Twitter
In 2013, the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) became a full member of UEFA after appealing to the Court of Arbitration following opposition from Spain.
Since then, the real minnows of European Football have been taking part in European competitions although they are not allowed to have access to Spanish stadiums and have had to drag their fans to Portugal for some ‘home’ matches.
Mouse that roared
However in what can be termed as a real life ‘mouse that roared’, the GFA made a formal complaint about the behaviour of two of the Spanish team that won the Euro 2024 final following their outburst on July 15.
Spanish captain Álvaro Morata and team-mate Rodri chanted “Gibraltar is Spanish” in front of a large crowd in Madrid’s Plaza Cibeles and UEFA has reacted decisively and announced that it has initiated disciplinary proceedings over the “Gibraltar es Español” chants.
Knock on effect
The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEBD) will now decide on the matter although those in Gibraltar consider the Spanish players uncalled for actions resulted in harassment towards the Association and aggression towards young Gibraltarians enjoying the fair in La Linea.
Visiting Irish fans from Shelbourne FC also repeated the chant in their fixture against Lincoln Red Imps at the Europa Stadium in Gibraltar.
Morata spent just two seasons with Chelsea and reportedly did not enjoy his time in England whilst Rodri joined Manchester City in 2019 and although inspirational may well find himself the target of abusive chants from rival fans in the Premier League.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our
Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica.
Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene.
Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development.
Share your story with us by emailing [email protected], by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
Known as the PEOPLE’S PAPER, Euro Weekly News is the leading English language newspaper in Spain. And it’s FREE!
Covering the Almeria, Axarquia, Costa Blanca North, Costa Blanca South, Costa del Sol , Costa Calida, Mallorca and beyond, EWN supports and inspires the individuals, neighbourhoods, and communities we serve, by delivering news with a social conscience. Whether it’s local news in Spain, UK news or international stories, we are proud to be the voice for the expat communities who now call Spain home.
With around half a million print readers a week and over 1.5 million web views per month, EWN has the biggest readership of any English language newspaper in Spain. The paper prints over 150 news stories a week with many hundreds more on the web – no one else even comes close.
Our publication has won numerous awards over the last 25 years including Best Free Newspaper of the Year (Premios AEEPP), Company of the Year (Costa del Sol Business Awards) and Collaboration with Foreigners honours (Mijas Town Hall). All of this comes at ZERO cost to our readers. All our print and online content always has been and always will be FREE OF CHARGE.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Close
