The Diplomat
The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabián Picardo, yesterday described as “disgusting” the chants of several footballers of the Spanish team during the celebration for the victory in the Euro Cup, in which they chanted the slogan “Gibraltar is Spanish”.
“Mixing a sporting victory and the chant that glorifies the dictatorial politics of a mass murderer like Franco and his fascist regime’s attempt to usurp a neighbouring territory, that is also a UEFA nation, is worse than disgusting”, declared Picardo after several players, above all, Álvaro Morata (former Chelsea player) and Rodrigo (current Manchester City player), will chant the slogan “Gibraltar is Spanish” during the celebrations in the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid. “It sullies the sport of football and the win on the pitch”, he continued through the social network X.
Likewise, the Government of Gibraltar was “disappointed to note that several players of the Spanish male national football team celebrated their European Cup win with chants of rancid remarks about Gibraltar,” “This is a totally unnecessary mixing of a great sporting success with discriminatory political statements that are hugely offensive to Gibraltarians,” the statement continued. “The lamentable use of the platform of celebrations around winning the Eurocup for advancing the idea of usurping the territory of Gibraltar is contrary to the principle that sport should not be used to advance any politically controversial ideology,” it added.
For its part, the Gibraltar Football Federation (FA) announced yesterday in a statement its intention to present “an official complaint to UEFA following the celebrations of the Spanish men’s football team at Euro 2024” and criticized “the extremely provocative and insulting of the celebrations.” “There is no place in football for behavior of this nature,” it added. In this regard, Picardo assured, in the same message from X, that he “fully” supports the complaint to UEFA. “This cannot stand unanswered. The Rock is ours,” he concluded.
The chants began at the initiative of Morata, who acted as master of ceremonies and shouted “Gibraltar is Spanish” almost at the beginning of the celebrations, and continued with Rodrigo, who at one point snatched the microphone from him to chant “Gibraltar is Spanish” almost at the end end of the act. The phrase was repeated by the fans present in Cibeles.
For her part, the Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, downplayed the words of the footballers, which occurred in “a context of celebration.” “If the context is always important, in the case of the chants that occurred yesterday, even more so,” she declared during the press conference after the meeting of the Council of Ministers. “There was a great celebration, and what could be heard must be framed in the context in which it occurred. “No one has any doubt that the foreign policy of a country is established by the Government of this country,” she added.
