Football is “coming home” now that the GFA has reached an agreement with the Government of Gibraltar and UEFA to build a UEFA Category 4 National Football Stadium at Victoria Stadium.

There will be additional sporting facility at Lathbury Barracks and Europa Point that the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said will solve all football and other sports infrastructure problems for generations to come in time for the Island Games 2019.

This would bring football games to Gibraltar as early as 2018, with local clubs being able to play their UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifiers on their home pitch, as well as Under-21s, Under-19s and Under-17s.

The announcement was made at a press conference at Number Six earlier today, attended by representatives of the local media, GFA and the GSLA.

The General Secretary of the GFA, Dennis Beiso, explained that the Victoria Stadium was rejected from the outset by UEFA who were not prepared to allocate funds for the upgrading of a municipal stadium not owned by the GFA and one that the UEFA technicians didn’t like. Europa Point and Lathbury Parade Ground were put forward by the GFA as alternative sites but these were considered not to be viable.

The GFA went back to UEFA and after exploring various options, they persuaded the UEFA to drop its objections to Victoria Stadium with the idea that they purchase the site from the Government.

The new national stadium will be constructed at the Victoria Stadium site which will be purchased using funds from UEFA and FIFA specifically for infrastructure projects, and will be upgraded to a UEFA Category 4 stadium with a capacity of about 8,000 people.

The sale consists of the main pitch, the main and east stands, the old sports hall, pitch number two and a number of other plots around the perimeter of the main pitch. The GFA will use these additional areas to construct small-sized pitches for youth games as well as to provide new training facilities for clubs and national teams.

Mr Beiso said the redevelopment of new facilities for other sports was crucial to the UEFA decision in allowing the use of Victoria Stadium.

The Government, in turn, will use the £16.5 million from the sale of the Victoria Stadium to launch to new multi-sports facilities at Lathbury and Europa Point, containing smaller-sized training pitches and two new stadiums for football, rugby, cricket, swimming, squash, darts, athletics, as well as many other sports, as well as a sports complex for Special Olympics athletes.

Minister for Sports Steven Linares said this was a huge achievement for Gibraltar, and welcomed the new move, adding that this new facility will leave a “legacy” in the sporting world in Gibraltar that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

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