Gibraltar could be capped at two teams in UEFA club competitions

Gibraltar could still be capped at two teams participating in European club competitions after UEFA revealed that a final decision will be taken at the end of this season.

This follows an article in Monday’s edition of this newspaper which reported that the Rock jumped above San Marino and Andorra to 52^nd place in the UEFA rankings for club competitions. This means Gibraltar should be entitled to another spot, according to UEFA regulations.

However, the Gibraltar FA released a statement yesterday where they emphasised that no decision had yet been made on the number of clubs eligible for European competition.

“We are constantly liaising with UEFA on this matter as well as on many other subjects relating to Gibraltar football,” said Steven Gonzalez, Gibraltar FA Communications Manager.

“We are all eagerly awaiting the verdict.”

A UEFA spokesman meanwhile also confirmed yesterday that any decision on additional places for Gibraltar would be subject to the UEFA club competitions committee who regularly review the European club competition access list.

“It will be formally approved at the end of the current 2015/16 season (no exact date set yet),” the spokesman said.

“It is thus only at the end of the 2015/16 season that it will be known whether anything would change for Gibraltar or if there would be a status quo regarding the number of teams that can be entered for season 2017/18.”

The spokesman said that when Gibraltar initially became a UEFA member it was decided that they would have two clubs competing in Europe. But the European governing body did not confirm that a cap was installed at the time.