SFA launch last-ditch attempt for Euro 2020 games

SCOTTISH football officials were working late into the night yesterday to try to stave off the prospect of a “No” vote on their bid for a piece of the action at Euro 2020.
Spain won the last European Championship, staged in Poland and Ukraine. Picture: GettySpain won the last European Championship, staged in Poland and Ukraine. Picture: Getty
Spain won the last European Championship, staged in Poland and Ukraine. Picture: Getty

Uefa’s executive committee meet this morning, just as the independence referendum result is announced, to choose the 13 successful cities bidding to host the one-off pan-European Championship finals being spread around the continent in six years’ time to mark the 60th anniversary of the tournament.

After missing out on Euro 2008 when its joint bid with the Republic of Ireland came fourth of seven contenders, the SFA is hoping for a better outcome this time, especially given the fact that Uefa are anxious to give as many smaller nations as possible a chance to host now that so few have the infrastructural capability to stage the finals on their own, with the event expanded from 16 to 24 finalists.

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Hours before the vote result in Geneva, however, the mood in the Scottish camp was anything but bullish as it emerged that Hampden Park, for all its illustrious history and heritage, could lose out to Cardiff and Dublin for three 2020 group games plus a knockout match.

Uefa’s technical evaluation report has been critical of the commercial part of the Scottish bid, describing it as “inadequate”, and officials of European football’s governing body will be anxious not to fall into the same trap as Fifa who have never recovered from handing the 2022 World Cup to Qatar despite several caveats flagged up by its own technical team.

Last night, SFA officials admitted they were in a race against time to persuade enough Uefa members to vote for Glasgow, with even the Azerbaijan capital of Baku likely to get the nod ahead of Hampden.

“It’s a difficult one to call,” said SFA chief executive Stewart Regan, who met Uefa executive committee members last night for a final networking opportunity to “talk up” Scotland’s bid. “There are four bids from the UK and Ireland and I think it is highly unlikely all four are going to be hosts but we’ll do our utmost to get a successful decision,” Regan said. “We have read all the technical reports and there are pluses and minuses in most of them. It’s fair to say Baku stands out as having received the strongest report.

“We’ve done all of our lobbying and it is out of our hands, but in our favour we have the history and heritage of Glasgow including some of the most famous European club and international games. Because it is the 60th anniversary of the European Championship we think history will feature very heavily in its branding. We are pleased with our bid, it has a lot of strengths, three airports, Scotland as a country and Glasgow as a city has a fantastic track record in hosting major sports events like the recent Commonwealth Games. Cardiff may have a newer bigger stadium but we have the history and heritage.”

Regan played down the suggestion that the referendum vote, whatever the outcome, could have a direct bearing on today’s result. “There was one line in the report talking about independence and that it could have a bearing on Scotland’s ability to host it, but that was put in there simply to draw attention to it. In reality we operate under Scottish law already and would do so whether or not it was an independent Scotland, so it is not a big issue. This is about football, not politics.”

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino refused to be drawn, at an eve of vote press conference, as to Scotland’s chances but said the independence referendum would make no difference. “Scotland is already a member association so for us it is not an issue,” he said.

Wembley seems almost certain to be granted the semi-finals and finals. Uefa have stipulated that the climax to the tournament be in one city and Munich is England’s only rival for the semi-finals and final.

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In recent weeks, however, it has become apparent that the German FA may strategically opt to stage group games instead in order to concentrate on a bid to stage Euro 2024 by themselves.

Last night, English FA chairman Greg Dyke said: “We are down to two between us and Germany but you can never be too confident. Munich is a great stadium but I think we feel that we have got a pretty good chance. I think everyone thinks that Wembley is one of the great stadiums of the world now.”