‘We are a pariah state and this position we are in is ludicrous’
ACURSORY scan at the FIFA rankings finds Be r muda loitering at 169. Turks & Caicos Islands are 176th. And the Cayman Islands can be found at 205 — four below the British Virgin Islands and one above the Cook Islands.
Yet, two years since winning their lengthy, bitter legal battle for membership of UEFA, Gibraltar — one of the more familiar British overseas territories — are nowhere to be found.
At Hampden tomorrow, the tiny settlement, with their Scottish coach and strong British identity, line up for a European Championship qualifying match. Through the eyes of Sepp Blatter’s FIFA, however, they simply don’t exist.
‘We are a pariah state,’ said Dennis Beiso, chief executive of the 120-year-old Gibraltar Football Association (GFA).
‘There are other British territories in FIFA which have even less autonomy than Gibraltar. And yet our lack of autonomy is the political excuse being used to exclude us. The position is ludicrous.’
Gibraltar’s lengthy campaign for recognition in world football has been hamstrung by powerful enemies.
Ceded to Britain by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, Spain has persistently claimed sovereignty over the jutting rock on its southern-most tip.
On the insistence of its 30,000 inhabitants, Britain has stubbornly resisted. The tension spills into the sporting sphere.
FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar, president of the Spanish FA, is a 16-year veteran of the governing body’s executive committee and chairman of its legal committee.
An opponent of Gibraltar participating in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, his committee face a challenge to their authority when the GFA take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
‘The hearing is in May,’ said Beiso, a graduate of St Andrews University. ‘But these things take time.
‘We are hopeful of a judgment over the summer or, at the latest, by the end of the calendar year.’
They have been there before. In 1997, the GFA applied to become members of UEFA and FIFA. But, in 2001, the two governing bodies changed their rules to only admit member countries of the United Nations and used the new rule to retrospectively reject t heir applications.
‘UEFA membership took us 14 years from beginning to end,’ Beiso sighed. ‘ We were rejected in 2004 when Scotland were one of only two home nations which supported us, along with Wales.
‘ We pursued the court case through the Court of Arbitration for Sport and that took a number of years because we were the subject of three inter-linked cases.
‘The third and last one, to all intents and purposes, saw UEFA ordered to make us members at the next available opportunity.
‘By 2013, we had 51 nations in our favour and two abstentions.’
Unsurprisingly, the Spanish FA was one of them.
Yet at a UEFA congress this week, Beiso, the Gibraltarian government archivist who became general secretary of the GFA five years ago, chatted amiably with Spanish colleagues.
The opposition to Gibraltar becoming part of the football community, he believes, stems from higher up the food chain.
‘Really, this is a political issue which stems from the Madrid government,’ he said. ‘Regrettably, FIFA appear to be taking a similarly political line on us.
‘We see it as a very simple case. You have a precedent. We joined UEFA and we see no way FIFA can keep us out.
‘ Our argument, purely and simply, is that we applied to join the organisation way back in 1997 when there were no statutes at FIFA precluding a territory like ourselves becoming members.
‘They have other British overseas territories within the organisation such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla, Turks & Caicos Islands and a f ew others as members. They have exactly the same constitutional relationship with the UK that we have.
‘ Yet we are being excluded precisely because of that constitutional relationship. Sorry, but that makes no sense.
‘It’s why we have been left with no option but to go down the legal route again in May.’
Promoted to the role of chief executive when the Gibraltar FA were granted entry to UEFA, Beiso now manages eight full-time staff.
He was involved in the victorious I sl and Games of 2007 when Gibraltar overcame the likes of Orkney and Shetland Islands in Rhodes to win the gold medal.
He then oversaw their first senior international when they drew 0-0 with Slovakia in Portugal — their own stadium fails to meet UEFA standards — and won their first game against Malta.
Group D qualifiers have been a bigger ask. So f ar they have shipped 21 goals, losing two games 7-0 to Poland and the Republic of Ireland and winning no points.
‘People ask why Gibraltar should be playing international football,’ said Beiso. ‘I would turn that around and say: “Why not?”
‘We have a football pedigree and football culture. The association has been in existence since 1895.
‘There is a deep-rooted football culture here in Gibraltar. And I feel our players have the ability and the determination — and deserve to be where they are now, which is on the European stage.
‘After that, the next l ogical progression is to pursue FIFA membership by any means available.
‘ Leaving politics aside for a minute, it makes sense to let us in.
‘How can we have a ridiculous situation where our national team are allowed to play for two years as part of the European qualifiers and are then excluded from the World Cup qualifiers for two years?’
They have played a Scotland national team before. In the 2008 Four Nations tournament in North Wales, Gibraltar faced England C, Wales semi-pro and a Scotland B side, losing all of their games and finishing bottom.
Currently over seeing the construction of a new 10,000-seat Europa Point Stadium, however, Beiso believes Gibraltar — a territory five times smaller than Blackpool — are growing into the role of an international player.
‘We didn’t go into this campaign under any illusion,’ he said. ‘We are ambitious. We have to be or what is the point?
‘But we are realistic. Our playing pool is very limited and we have to expect occasional drubbings.
‘ But 4- 0 against the world champions Germany was, to all intents, a respectable scoreline.
‘ We also have our first international victory, beating Malta 1-0 in a friendly. We drew with Slovakia and away to Estonia.
‘The problem is that a lot of these boys have never played in front of large crowds. They play in front of a couple of hundred at home.
‘Scott Wiseman at Preston is used to larger crowds but we’re not talking Hampden here.
‘Stage fright is an issue for us. They take a while to take it all in and that affects their performances.
‘Scotland is a tall order. The atmosphere will be terrific and the f act the boys are playing at Hampden will be tremendous.
‘These things will prey on them but they have ability and who knows? We might be able to spring a surprise but we are realistic.
‘ Scotland are playing good football and getting results under Gordon Strachan. Our real battles are being fought elsewhere.’
It is political. It stems from the Madrid government It makes sense for FIFA to let us in. We’ve a football culture