Celtic Park and Ibrox snubbed UK and Ireland launch Euro 2028 bid
The UK and Ireland have launched their final shared bid to host Euro 2028, and have shortlisted ten stadiums to be used in the tournament.
These include stadiums in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle, Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff and right here in Glasgow.
Hampden Park will be the sole Scottish venue if the bid is successful, which Scottish football fans seem displeased with.
In the replies to a tweet from the Scottish Football Association, there was a considerable amount of criticism.
Scottish Football vlogger Aaron Fraser said: âCeltic Park, Ibrox, and Murrayfield not being considered for this is a shambles.
âEven Tynecastle and Easter Road would be great for hosting some of the smaller games.
âOnly having one stadium involved is extremely disappointing.â
With a plethora of historic stadiums north of the border, in Ireland and in Wales not considered, eyebrows have been raised.
Six out of the ten stadiums in the proposal are in England.
One of them, Everton Stadium is still under construction.
The Merseyside club currently play at the Historic Goodison park, but their new 52,888-seater stadium will not be completed until the 2024/25 season.
Croke Park, the biggest stadium in Ireland, has not been listed despite Irelandâs willingness to include it.
The SFA however, seems happy with the bids current structure, seeing it as an opportunity for growth.
In its bid dossier, the SFA said: âOur vision â âFootball for all, Football for good. Football for the futureâ â is a promise to help our Associations and UEFA grow a more diverse and inclusive game as well as connect with new audiences and the next generation of fans and volunteers.”
Despite the controversy, the bid has a good chance to go though.
The only current competition is Turkey despite interest from 3 other multination groups and Italy.
The UK and Ireland bid will be a tournament âdefined by inclusivityâ according to Lucy Frazer, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which following the controversy around the Qatar world cup, could be attractive to UEFA.
UEFA will make its final decision on the host for Euro 2028 and 2032 in September of this year.
