Morata and Rodri in trouble with UEFA

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.

Full list of charges

The full list of charges against the players is as follows:

– General principles of conduct

– Violating the basic rules of decent conduct

– using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature

– Bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute.

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.