The Diplomat
UEFA’s rules to avoid teams from contentious countries or territorial entities playing each other in its tournaments have prevented Spain and Gibraltar from being drawn in the same qualifying group for the 2024 European Football Championship.
In yesterday’s draw for Group A, Spain, Scotland, Norway, Georgia and, finally, Gibraltar were drawn, but the organisers immediately placed the British colony in Group B and Cyprus was chosen instead.
Gibraltar has been a full member of UEFA since 2013, and of FIFA since 2016. However, the two bodies have among their restrictions a possible confrontation with Spain, because our country would not accept such a confrontation, having claimed sovereignty over the Rock.
It is not the first time that Spain and Gibraltar have been paired, as it happened in the draw for Euro 2016, and also then the organisers had to make changes in the formation of the groups.
Yesterday’s developments come hours after British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, reiterated on Saturday to his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, the UK’s commitment to reaching an agreement with the European Union on Gibraltar “that works for the whole region”.
This is what Cleverly said on his Twitter account, after his first meeting with Albares during the Spanish-British Tertulias, held last weekend in Oxford.
The British Minister for Europe, Leo Docherty, is scheduled to visit the Rock today to discuss issues related to the negotiations with the EU with Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, and other members of his Cabinet, according to the colony’s Executive.
The Foreign Secretary added on Twitter that, at the meeting with Albares, they also spoke of working together to create “security, prosperity and opportunity” for the people of the two countries.
For his part, the Spanish minister reported on the same social network about the meeting, indicating that they discussed strategic bilateral relations between Spain and the United Kingdom, and added: “We want a mutually beneficial relationship for our citizens”.
