Faro council today reacted with great "surprise" at the distinct possibility that Gibraltar will stop playing its matches in the Algarve Stadium.
The Gibraltar Football Association "so far has not expressed any displeasure” about the arrangement with the Algarve Stadium, states the council.
So far the Association has not needed to express any displeasure at the arrangement, but after last weekend’s security and PR disaster everything is up in the air.
The Gibraltar FA has been using the Algarve Stadium for Group D qualifying matches due to its home facilities not meeting UEFA standards.
The cost of hosting Gibraltar's European qualifiers and international friendlies in the Algarve has been £100,000 each, according to GFA President Desmond Reoch, paid through GFA's EUFA funding, money the stadium balance sheet would find hard to do without.
Many of the 800 supporters from Gibraltar that made the journey to the Estadio do Algarve near Faro to watch the Group D match between Gibraltar and Poland last week have complained bitterly about the degrading manner in which the Portuguese security officers conducted searches on supporters entering the stadium.
Gibraltar FA Management now is said to be looking at an alternative venue as its home supporters have indicated that they will no longer be travelling to the Algarve to support their team due to the over-zealous security.
"An announcement will be made before the New Year," the GFA said in a statement yesterday and it confirmed that the second home game of the European Qualifiers will be played in the Faro stadium on October 14 against Georgia.
The GFA Communications Manager Steven Gonzalez said there were "no concrete plans" to move from the Algarve venue and it would "take some time to follow through with such a move."
The 2004 ground costs €30,000 a month to run and remains an under used space. It may soon be used even less unless the stadium management gets a grip on its security procedures and issues a full apology to these welcome visitors from Gibraltar.
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