Spain players' Euro 2024 celebration song pushes Gibraltar soccer body to weigh complaint to UEFA
Spain's team captain Alvaro Morata, with the microphone, introduces player Rodri, center, to the fans during celebrations of the Spanish team's European soccer championship title on a stage at Cibeles square in Madrid, Monday, July 15, 2024. Spain defeated England in the final of the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin on Sunday evening. Credit: AP/Andrea Comas
GIBRALTAR — Gibraltar’s soccer federation said Tuesday it is taking legal advice about Spain players’ “extremely provocative and insulting” chants at a welcome home party for the European Championship title winner.
In Madrid on Monday evening, Spain captain Alvaro Morata and player of the tournament Rodri led thousands of fans singing “Gibraltar is Spanish.” It was at a celebration for the team’s 2-1 win over England in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday in Berlin.
Gibraltar, on the southern tip of Spain, has been a British overseas territory for more than 300 years with a population of about 35,000 people. Spain has maintained its sovereignty claim.
Gibraltar has been an independent member of European soccer body UEFA since 2013 and FIFA three years later but the diplomatic issue has meant its teams are separated from Spanish opponents in competition draws.
“Football has no place for behavior of this nature,” the Gibraltar federation said Tuesday in a statement, noting the “extremely provocative and insulting nature of the celebrations around the Spanish men’s national team winning Euro 2024.”
The federation said it is taking legal advice about a formal complaint to UEFA for “unacceptable chanting and songs.”
UEFA has clear jurisdiction over political statements and chants at stadiums of games it organizes, though the Spain players sang at a public square in Madrid.
Spain's Dani Olmo holds the trophy during celebrations of the Spanish team's European soccer championship title on a stage at Cibeles square in Madrid, Monday, July 15, 2024. Spain defeated England in the final of the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Berlin on Sunday evening. Credit: AP/Andrea Comas
Footage of the incident Monday showed Morata, who previously played in England for Chelsea, reminding long-time Manchester City star Rodri that he still plays in that country. Rodri reportedly replied “I don’t care.”
UEFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
