LAST WEEK GERMANY THUMPED SAN Marino 13-0. Andorra kept the score to five against England, but it could have been more. Such results have given rise to earnest debates about European minnows and whether, in a congested fixture calendar, it would be better if the tiny nations played a preliminary tournament among themselves before stepping on to the pitch with the big boys.

The issue is — or should be — a non-starter. Banishing the minnows to a pre-qualifying tournament so the larger nations can have more free international dates would not solve fixture congestion. They would simply fill them with pointless friendlies of no interest to anyone but the sponsors and the gullible.

Yet, in light of this, it was ironic that, on Wednesday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Uefa, European football’s governing body, should grant Gibraltar member status at its next congress in Düsseldorf in January. This would allow Gibraltar to enter the qualifying tournament for the 2012 European Championship and that clubs such as Gibraltar United Mansion FC could take part in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League.

The CAS is the only court in the world recognised by Uefa, so unless the organisation ignores its own rules, it will have little choice in January. The issue has already become a political hot potato. The Spanish Government, for political reasons, has voiced its objection. After all, it has been attempting for years to try to get Gibraltar back, even though, in 1713, its 2½ square miles were ceded to Great Britain “in perpetuity”. And the matter could be further complicated for the Spanish because Basques and Catalans may want to have their own national team if Gibraltar is allowed into the Uefa fold.

It will be a shame if the decision to admit Gibraltar into Uefa is determined by external political influences. Yet, equally, it will be a shame if Gibraltar is admitted at all.

Simply put, there is no valid reason for Gibraltar to join Uefa. For a start, Gibraltar is not a country. And the rules clearly stipulate that only countries that are recognised by the United Nations can join Uefa.

True, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and the Faroe Isles are not members of the UN either, but they joined Uefa before the rule was passed. And in the case of the home nations, there are plenty of valid historical reasons why they should be Uefa members.

Then there is the footballing issue. The point is not that Gibraltar would probably be a poor team. Countries such as Liechtenstein and San Marino, who are roughly the same size, are also pretty poor when it comes to football. Yet the fact remains, both occasionally produce decent footballers.

Massimo Bonini, of San Marino, was a stalwart midfield player for Juventus who won league titles and even the European Cup. Mario Frick, of Liechtenstein, has scored plenty of goals for Ternana in Serie B and FC Basle in the Swiss top flight.

Sure, Gibraltar may produce a good footballer, too. But the difference is that, unlike Bonini, Frick and anyone else born in San Marino or Liechtenstein, a Gibraltarian-born professional would have the option of playing for one of the home nations. He does not need Gibraltar to become a Uefa member to play international football because he can already play for a Uefa member nation (four of them, in fact).

On the other hand, not allowing players from small sovereign nations to participate in international competition simply because of their relative weakness could be seen as discriminatory.

Gibraltar’s campaign for entry into Uefa (which, strangely enough, is spearheaded by a far more professional-looking website than that of the Gibraltar FA, which looks poor and features a league table that has not been updated since 2005) is being treated by some as a quaint underdog story, with tales of how the Gibraltar team supposedly drew 2-2 with the mighty Real Madrid in 1949.

In fact, it is nothing more than a cross between a publicity stunt and an age-old political dispute masquerading as a sporting issue. The sad thing is that Uefa is even wasting its time with this nonsense.

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