Scotland to bid for Euro 2020 final

Published on 07/12/2012 00:00

SCOTLAND has thrown its hat into the ring to host the final of Euro 2020 in Glasgow after Uefa announced it will stage the tournament in up to 
13 cities across the continent.

The SFA will bid for the final, while England will table a rival pitch to take the concluding game and semi-finals to Wembley. Wales have also confirmed they will bid for matches and the Republic of Ireland are expected to follow suit after Uefa’s executive committee took the decision at a meeting in Lausanne yesterday. The pan-continental Euro 2020 will be a one-off rather than a model of future events and is aimed at celebrating the 60th anniversary of the tournament and providing opportunities to countries who would normally be unable to be hosts.

The format will be decided by Uefa’s national teams committee but plans involve 12 cities hosting the group and knockout games, with a 13th for the semi-finals and final.

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said: “We would be interested in the final but we first have to find out Uefa’s minimum criteria for capacity. If they are looking for stadiums with greater capacity, then of course we would be interested in hosting group matches.”

Celtic Park has the largest capacity in Scotland at 60,000 with Ibrox and Hampden Park also holding more than 50,000.