“Football is the most political of all sports”

Gibraltar’s right to participate in European football has been the product of a hard-won diplomatic battle. Dennis Beiso, chief executive officer of the Gibraltar Football Association, speaks to Charlotte Simmonds about their triumphant journey to Uefa membership and what comes next

By Charlotte Simmonds

(Photo By Kyle Casciaro, playing for Gibraltar against the Faroe Islands on 1 March - Ian Martinez | snaprimages.com)

“Hello, Dennis speaking,” the voice crackles down the line. I’m on the phone with Dennis Beiso, chief executive of the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA). He’s working from home today. “I often find I can get more done here than in the office,” he admits cheerfully.

The soft-spoken Beiso may be the highest-ranking official in Gibraltar’s sporting hierarchy, but until recently he held an entirely different position. “I used to be the government’s official archivist,” he tells me. “My involvement with the GFA began in a purely voluntary capacity. I served as its general secretary for three years, after which I left to focus on work. But then the issue of Uefa came up again.”