Advertisement

Spurs' stadium lined up as doubts grow over Bilbao, Dublin and Glasgow — but could England really host Euros?

Euro 2020 - Boris Johnson and Germany's biggest newspaper want England to host the Euros — but could it really happen? - GETTY IMAGES
Euro 2020 - Boris Johnson and Germany's biggest newspaper want England to host the Euros — but could it really happen? - GETTY IMAGES

Euro 2020 chiefs are increasingly sceptical of Dublin's suitability as a venue this summer, with Tottenham Hotspur's stadium in contention as a potential alternative.

Doubts have also been raised over Bilbao in Spain and Glasgow, although senior figures within Uefa expect Nicola Sturgeon to give a timetable for the return of fans prior to a key tournament meeting next month.

Uefa remains keen to give the 12 cities as much time as possible to safeguard their places but Ireland's tough sporting restrictions and slow vaccine rollout is a concern amongst senior figures with less than five weeks to spare until a final decision.

Organisers say they still hope to stage matches at the 12 venues as planned, but each of the countries staging matches must submit how they will welcome back fans in plans by a deadline of April 7.

Both Glasgow's Hampden Park and Dublin's Aviva Stadium are due to stage four games. Sources close to the Football Association of Ireland say Uefa has said the games will be moved should there be no supporters allowed, and Dublin is likely to take a tougher stance on restrictions than European counterparts.

Boris Johnson has repeatedly said England could stage more than the seven matches currently being played at Wembley, if Uefa needed it to step in. But it is understood Tottenham's venue would be more likely to be considered among options if Dublin is forced to pull out.

The Football Association is understood to be willing in principle to stage additional matches in England if asked to do so by Uefa. No such request has been tabled, however.

Uefa would like stadiums to have at least half of the seats filled, despite much of Europe still playing games in empty venues due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. The British government has plans for up to 10,000 fans to return to stadiums from May but more seats could be filled within weeks, dependent on trials of coronavirus testing for fans and plans to lift many social contact restrictions from June 21. But that only applies to England, with Scottish authorities adopting a more cautious path out of lockdown and offering no indication when fans could be allowed back into sports venues.

“We’ll see whether or not it’s possible at any point along that road for fans to actually be present to witness (the Euros),” Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said Wednesday.

Old Trafford, the Etihad and Anfield are also potential options if Uefa decides to shift the four games slated for Dublin’s 51,700-capacity Aviva Stadium across the Irish Sea to England.

“The public health advice is that it is too early to say how and when these restrictions should be eased given current uncertainties,” the Irish government told the Associated Press news agency. “At the request of Uefa, Dublin’s hosting partners ... are examining possible scenarios for staging the games scheduled for Dublin in this Covid-19 environment. We are in constant dialogue with Uefa and our intention is to work to finalize our best possible scenario consistent with public health guidelines.”

PM Johnson and German newspaper want England to host Euros

By Jeremy Wilson

Next month, the deadline will pass for host countries to inform Uefa of their plans to stage Euro 2020 matches.

England are the frontrunners to take on more matches amid Covid-19 concerns in some European countries.

But just how likely are England to step in, should some venues drop out? Telegraph Sport takes an in-depth look at some of the decisions Uefa is facing.

Could England really host the Euros?

Although Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that England are ready to stage further matches — and this enthusiasm has been welcomed by the football authorities — there is virtually nobody at either Uefa or the Football Association who regard it as a realistic possibility to suddenly move an entire 51-game tournament to one country.

England already has seven matches, including both semi-finals and the final, but there are a further 11 host nations who have successfully bid to host the remaining 44 matches. The games are spread over 31 days between June 11 and July 11, with teams having also organised themselves into training bases across Europe.

England’s lockdown ‘roadmap’ and current success with the vaccination programme has raised hopes of being able to stage matches in front of full stadiums after June 21. The best-case restriction until then is capacities of 10,000, which could still be many more than some host cities.

What is Uefa’s position?

The tournament organisers have give each host until April 7 to come forward with details of their individual plan, complete with the numbers of fans they expect to be permitted. They have consistently stressed their commitment to holding Euro 2020 according to their current 12-country plan and say that no other scenario is being planned.

A Uefa executive committee member — Arnan Duka — was quoted this week as saying that it was “possible” that the tournament could be staged only in England. There are concerns elsewhere in Uefa, however, that diverting all the matches to any one country would be misguided given the fluid and unpredictable nature of the Covid pandemic.

Indeed, there is an argument that having flexibility and as many ‘ready’ venues as possible could be vital if there are sudden spikes and thus restrictions in particular cities.

Uefa want to see matches played in front of as many fans as possible but accept that they must work to the particular Covid-19 laws and protocols of each country. They have agreed contracts with individual hosts and, while they have shown they can move club matches at short notice according to national Covid restrictions, the idea that they could unilaterally strip nations of matches has been privately dismissed. There are already numerous agreements around licencing, ticketing and merchandise. This would raise huge questions of legal challenges and compensation claims.

Could England even be ready to host an entire tournament this summer?

Uefa and the FA have serious doubts that any country could possibly be ready to stage the entire tournament with anything less than six months’ notice. Training bases would need to be sourced and additional host venues would have to be found. In practice, this would mean persuading Premier League clubs to offer their facilities at extremely short notice.

The pressure of a virtually non-existent closed season last year has meant that many clubs are looking to re-lay pitches this summer. No contingency plans have been made with any Premier League clubs and, while some might step forward at short notice and be attracted by the prestige and financial incentive, the chances of finding agreement at all the major stadiums is considered negligible.

Would other countries just give up their games?

None of the other 11 nations have so far come forward to say that they can no longer stage matches, although Uefa are prepared for varying responses on April 7 in terms of restrictions and the likely number of fans. Uefa accept that the tournament must follow the Covid protocols of individual countries but are aware of reports of concerns in some countries.

Glasgow’s Hampden Park, for example, is supposed to be staging four matches but the return of football fans was not addressed in Nicola Sturgeon’s lockdown roadmap. The situation in Ireland, where the Aviva Stadium is due to host three matches, also remains unclear although Jonathan Hill, the new chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland, said that they “are planning on the basis that we will have fans in the Aviva Stadium”.

Other countries, like England, are giving off much more optimistic signals in their planning. Russia, for example, have been consistently confident about their ability to stage matches.

But Bild, Germany's biggest selling newspaper, has cheekily said England should host the tournament, thus allowing them to win the competition at Wembley, just as they did in 1996.

Is there a possibility of England hosting more than seven games?

This remains a far more likely outcome than moving the entire tournament. Uefa will assess the individual plans of host nations in April and there is an internal acceptance that individual matches could move, even at extremely late notice, depending on the pandemic and the attitudes of individuals governments.

Knowing that the FA and Boris Johnson are theoretically open to staging more matches — and are preparing to have so many fans inside stadiums — would make England a strong option for Uefa. But there are also likely to be other countries who would be keen on more games and, given all the uncertainty still, Uefa will almost certainly want to spread their bets.

Where might extra games be held?

If England were to be awarded Euro 2020 additional games, there would be pressure to look at new venues in the north, with Old Trafford, which will host games in the women’s Euros next year, among the likely candidates.

If there was a choice, it is understood that the Government would also prefer more matches away from Wembley. The options, however, would also depend on the availability of stadiums and the attitudes of individual clubs, who are not currently preparing for that scenario.