The GFA is good at scoring goals: own goals By David Eade I received an email message a day or so ago in which the writer stated that theyd attended a function at which the Great and Good of Gibraltar had attended and the sole topic of conversation was the football stadium. Given that some of those mentioned, I suspect, have little or no interest in the beautiful game it just goes to show that the stadium has passed from being about sport and is being kicked around like an old battered cows political bladder. As I could never ignore a kick around in the school playground let me add some of my views on this issue and take a couple of shots at goal. The first is that the GFA confused Gibraltars euphoria over gaining entry to UEFA for a carte blanche to do what it pleased about the stadium. The euphoria wasnt totally about football but rather a victory over Spain. Hence there are many people who detest the game but celebrated none the less. The GFA has to come down off cloud nine and talk to the crowd. The second is that planning a major project like a football stadium needed to be and needs to be played out in the open. It is no good telling people this is the design and this is where it will be located. Football in its essence is a grass roots and not an elitist game and the project needs to be handled in an open manner. It hasnt been. The third is that Gibraltar is too small a community to have a dedicated football stadium: it needs to be an all-purpose facility. Hence all users from sports associations, event organizers to schools need to be involved in its planning and location. They havent been. The fourth is that there will be a section of society that will not want a stadium at any price and certainly not on their doorstep. Playing in Portugal will seem a good enough idea to them so no end package will be acceptable. They will boo any decision but will boo louder if the decision is clearly off-side which this one is. As I have stated here previously you only have to look at the map of Gibraltar to realize there is little available land for such a major development. It is not just the stadium but also access, parking along with crowd control and the needs of the emergency services that have to be taken in to account. Hence even the re-development of the Victoria Stadium site would not be a simple matter. And no you cant put it in Casemates. I can see the presumed logic for choosing Europa Point: heres a large empty space lets fill it! I can also fully appreciate the opposition to the stadium being located there for emotive as well as strategic reasons. At the end of the day it may be the right place but I suspect many will need convincing that is so. So far they havent been. The most fundamental point is this: the location of the stadium has to stop being used as a political football. It is far more important than just being a game for politicians. It is the people of Gibraltar who have to decide. More specifically it is the people of Gibraltar who live on the Rock who will have it in their backyard who should hold sway and not those who live in Sotogrande but fancy a kick about. There needs to be a clear, factual debate to discuss location, planning, access and the needs of the community that has to fill it. At the end of the day there will be those who oppose it: but the majority should have their say and to date they havent. The GFA is good at scoring goals: own goals. Its the peoples game: give them the ball and let the people speak. 28-03-14 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 19:11:24 +0000
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