“Uefa is obliged to admit Gibraltar,” says president of administrative body

Uefa president Michel Platini on Friday confirmed that his organization had no option but to accept the Gibraltar Football Association into its fold as a full member, as it is obliged to do so by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“We are obliged to integrate Gibraltar because that’s what CAS asks us to do,” the former France international told reporters at Uefa headquarters in Switzerland. “That is why we will have to request that Congress accept the decision.”

Platini explained that since 2001 Uefa has been bound by a rule that only allows it to accept countries recognized by the United Nations as full members. “That is why we cannot deal with the issue of Kosovo or Catalonia; however, Gibraltar requested to join before 2001, so the rule does not apply,” he said.

Gibraltar first requested entry to the governing body of European soccer in 1997, but was rejected in 2007 because, Platini said, that was what the Executive Committee decided. But a resolution made by CAS on August 18, 2011 in favor of granting it full membership now “obliges us to recommend the opposite, and so we must act.”

The Uefa Executive Committee agreed to admit the Gibraltar Football Association as a provisional member on October 1. However, the decision to grant it full membership will not be taken until Uefa’s next ordinary congress, scheduled to take place in London in May.