By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – FIFA has been controversially ordered by sport’s highest court to accept Gibraltar as a member, opening the tiny British overseas territory’s path to potentially being added to the 2018 World Cup qualifying programme.
The decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) comes 20 months after FIFA rejected Gibraltar’s bid and a week before world football’s governing body holds its first congress under new president Gianni Infantino.
Gibraltar was reluctantly accepted by UEFA as a member in 2013 after a 14-year fight for recognition during which it faced fierce opposition from neighbours Spain. After FIFA failed to follow suit, the Gibraltar FA (GFA) went to CAS claiming FIFA’s stance contravened statutes regarding independent territories.
Upholding Gibraltar’s appeal against FIFA blocking entry, the CAS panel of judges could not directly grant membership but mandated FIFA to do so.
“The GFA’s appeal against the decision issued by the FIFA Executive Committee on 26 September 2014 is partially upheld to the extent that the FIFA Executive Committee is ordered to transmit the Gibraltar Football Association’s application for FIFA membership to the FIFA Congress, which shall take all necessary measures to admit the Gibraltar Football Association as a full member of FIFA without delay,” a CAS statement said, “within the limits of the FIFA statutes.”
The timing of the decision was something of an embarrassment for Angel Maria Villar, veteran president of the Spanish football federation, who has long been opposed to Gibraltar’s membership.
As UEFA’s senior vice-president, Villar chaired today’s UEFA Congress in Budapest in the absence of the banned Michel Platini and had to stomach the CAS ruling as he sat only a few feet away from Gibraltar’s delegation.
Gibraltar was prevented from joining FIFA just before the World Cup qualifying draw was made in Russia last July. FIFA rejected its application because the territory was not an independent country as required by the governing body’s statutes. But the CAS verdict ruling means Gibraltar, which has a population of around 30,000 people, could now be fast-tracked into one of the 2018 World Cup qualifying groups before kickoff in September – with FIFA having to somehow find a way of tweaking its statutes. “We understand that FIFA are working to ensure our inclusion in next week’s Congress agenda,” the GFA said in a statement.
Gibraltar made its competitive debut in the 2016 European Championship qualifying campaign, losing every match. The part-timers finished bottom of Group D without a point. They lost all 10 games, scoring twice and conceding 56 times, with their home games played in Portugal.
FIFA said in a statement that its newly established council, which is replacing the executive committee, would discuss the issue in Mexico early next week just before the full Congress and decide how to proceed “including a potential request to amend the agenda in order to submit the Gibraltar FA’s application”.
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