Walter Finch
A BAR owner claims he is being ‘bullied out’ of his quarter century business at the Victoria Stadium because of a mammoth new national football stadium.
Allan Asquez, 60, has run the Murga Bar and two kiosks at the stadium for decades, as well as nearby Dining 54.
But an order to demolish the football stadium was passed last month, leading to a dispute breaking out in public between Asquez and the government over the compensation package to be offered.
He insists the government has reneged on a deal that was ‘satisfactory to both parties’, while the government claims he rejected a ‘reasonable compensation package.’
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“They are bullying me out of the stadium to give [the concession] to someone else,” Asquez told the Olive Press this week.
He compared it to ‘tinpot dictators throwing people out of their businesses and giving them to families and friends.’
The government claims Asquez’s demands of ‘upwards of £2 million’ are ‘extortionate and unacceptable’ – something he denies.
Asquez has now been offered £115,440, a far cry from the previous compensation deal which was reportedly reached in August 2023.
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The government claims the deal fell through ‘because he could not prove his legal rights’ as well as other payments over time.
It denied that a fallout between Asquez and the GSLP leadership – notably with Fabian Picardo and Gemma Arias-Vasquez – around the same time had anything to do with the stadium dispute.
Asquez claimed at the time he had put himself forward for the GSLP’s election slate that year, only to be told by Picardo that he ‘didn’t want me on his team and would instruct executive members not to vote for me’.
“I was quite upset about the way things have unfolded,” he told GBC in 2023.
But the government shot back this week: “None of these decisions had anything to do with the fact that [Asquez] was not selected as a candidate for the GSLP or his statements or actions thereafter.
“The two are not connected in any way.”
It was Gibraltar’s tumultuous entry into UEFA in 2013 that set Asquez on a collision course with the government and the Gibraltar Football Association.
Victoria Stadium, which has hosted the Gibraltar Football League, as well as school sports days and other sporting events for decades, was deemed unsuitable to host international football, meaning it would need to be redeveloped – or rebuilt.
Plans have been drawn up for an 8,000-seater, top-tier UEFA Category Four stadium that would incorporate luxury apartments, a shopping centre and commercial zone and 15 VVIP boxes.
The expansive plans have given rise to fears that the new national stadium would become a commercial event venue in which Gibraltar’s footballing community would take a back seat.
However, the government has moved to allay these fears.
“The stadium in Gibraltar will be available for all GFA activities, not just for men’s national team matches,” a spokesperson confirmed to the Olive Press.
“It will host matches for all football leagues and will also be available for other sports by agreement with the GFA.”
He added there would be further training facilities which will provide for the grass roots of the game.
But many have questioned the need for such a large stadium – which will be able to seat a fifth of the entire population of the Rock.
Other critics have asked why a similar 10,000 seater stadium in nearby La Linea cost just €8m to build, or around €880 per seat, while the Gibraltar stadium is estimated at £100 million – £12,500 per seat.
“Our stadium is required to provide many more facilities than La Linea stadium, which is designed for its own needs and is not seriously comparable,” the spokesman argued.
“Our new stadium will be required to host Gibraltar’s top league, Champions league, the UEFA Cup and International GFA matches.”
He added: “The whole area is being developed with ancillary facilities, the sale of which will fund the cost of the stadium.
“The actual cost is not yet fixed and is subject to a tender process the GFA is running.
“And the cost of construction is, in any event, higher in Gibraltar than in Spain.”
However, Alan’s cousin, football agent Kenneth Asquez told the Olive Press that a Category Four stadium isn’t required to host internationals.
“Andorra and San Marino do not even have Category Three stadiums, and they have been playing internationals for years,” he said.
“Lincoln Red Imps played in a stadium in August in Ireland in the Europa Conference League Group stage qualifier – which has the same specifications as the Champions League – and that was very poor.
“So it puts to bed the notion we need a Category Four stadium in Gibraltar to host matches.”
