Players from Spain’s winning men’s Euro 2024 football team have led crowds in chants of “Gibraltar is Spanish” at their victory celebrations in the capital Madrid.
Midfielder Rodri, who also plays for English club Manchester City, was among those chanting.
Gibraltar’s Football Association made an official complaint about the celebrations to European football body Uefa, describing them as “extremely provocative and insulting”.
Gibraltar is an enclave at Spain’s southern tip that has been under British rule since the 18th Century, but Spain has long called for its return.
The chanting came as tens of thousands of Spanish fans gathered in central Madrid on Monday to greet the players after their 2-1 victory over England in Sunday’s final match.
Waving flags and dressed in Spain’s traditional red and yellow strip, the fans cheered as the players made an open-top bus tour through the streets of the city.
The parade ended in Cibeles square, where the European Championship trophy was presented.
Rodri, whose full name is Rodrigo Hernandez, was seen chanting “Gibraltar is Spanish” along with right-winger Lamine Yamal as they got on the stage in front of the crowds.
The team’s captain Alvaro Morata later led the crowds with the same chant.
The Gibraltar FA on Tuesday complained about the team’s behaviour, saying in a statement it had “noted the extremely provocative and insulting nature of the celebrations around the Spanish Men’s national team winning Euro 2024”.
“Football has no place for behaviour of this nature,” the statement added.
Image caption, Tens and thousands came to celebrate in Madrid’s Cibeles square
Gibraltar is currently a British Overseas Territory with a population of just over 34,000.
It was ceded to Britain by Spain in perpetuity at the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and became an important naval base.
Its people have twice backed British rule in referendums but Spain has maintained a claim on the territory.
There have been disagreements on how to police the border since Gibraltar left the European Union with Brexit.
Gibraltar has been a full member of Uefa since 2013 and fielded its own team in Euro 2024.
It finished bottom of qualifying Group B with 0 points – its losses including a 14-0 away defeat to France, the former champions’ biggest ever win.
Source link : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjk3zlpd5l4o.amp
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Publish date : 2024-07-16 08:52:34
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