Celtic and Rangers vie for Euro 2016 ties

CELTIC Park and Ibrox will vie to host Scotland games in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign later this year after the draw that will decide the group opponents for Gordon Strachan’s side in the competition is made today in Nice, France.

Set by computer, the draw could result in Scotland having three home matches while Hampden is out of commission in 2014 due to its use for the Commonwealth Games.

The Euro 2016 qualifiers begin in September, with a double header in October and a further date in November. So there is an outside chance that a ground which can hold in excess of 35,000 – the average home crowd in recent campaigns – will be needed in each of these months.

Ibrox, Celtic Park and Murrayfield are the only three stadiums with a capacity greater than 35,000 but SFA chief executive Stewart Regan says the rugby venue is not an option.

“From a football point of view we want to keep any value inside the game of football,” he said. “There would be a series of criteria that would have to be established before venues would be eligible to bid. Some kind of tender and contract process.”