Analysis

UK & Ireland confident of Euro 2028 bid success with UEFA set to make decision

The UK and Ireland have submitted a joint bid to host Euro 2028, but face competition from Turkey; UEFA will award the next two European Championships on October 10; Sky Sports News' senior reporter Geraint Hughes answers the key questions surrounding the bids for 2028

By Geraint Hughes, Sky Sports News

Wednesday 4 October 2023 12:23, UK

On October 10, UEFA will award the hosting of two European Championships, the 2028 and 2032 editions.

A five-way joint UK countries and Ireland bid has been submitted and its team will present their case alongside Turkey, whose sole bid for hosting 2028 remains on the table despite also submitting a joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032.

Sky Sports News senior reporter Geraint Hughes answers the key questions ahead of UEFA's decision-making for both tournaments...

Why the UK & Ireland Euro 2028 bid should succeed

Politics, financing and clarity will play their part for the successful bidders for Euro 2028 and 2032. The UK and Ireland bid is in strong shape on all these fronts.

They withdrew from the race to be a European candidate to host the World Cup in 2030, making life easier for UEFA as currently Spain, Portugal and Morocco are set to submit a joint bid, with Ukraine also intent on joining their submission.

While the UK and Ireland submission will have plenty of questions to answer from UEFA, a sole Turkish bid for 2028 comes with risk. They have previously bid unsuccessfully to host major tournaments and the logistical chaos faced by many Manchester City fans at the Champions League final in Istanbul earlier this year has not helped their cause.

However, a joint bid between Turkey and Italy in 2032 would be viewed as a more cautious and safer option than a sole bid for a tournament that would host 24 nations in nine years' time.

What could stop the UK & Ireland Euro 2028 bid?

Euro 2028 is not an unopposed shoo-in for the UK and Ireland. UEFA are insistent on a full bid presentation in Nyon, Switzerland on October 10, and Turkey has not been withdrawn from that process.

Noel Mooney, chief executive of the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and a former UEFA executive, is keeping an open mind over the outcome.

He said: "Nobody has told me they're (Turkey) moving away from 2028 and until someone tells me, I have to take it as it is. Nobody has told me and until we are walking out of that auditorium in Nyon, we won't believe we have won this. Nobody is taking anything for granted. It's sport, football and politics!

"We (the joint UK & Ireland bid) agreed on everything pretty quickly. We have a sense of what we are trying to do, we have put forward what we all want to do for each of us and achieve that, and are satisfied to date with what we have done."

Where will the games be played?

The UK & Ireland submission is proposing to use 10 stadia in 2028. There's no Old Trafford and no Croke Park in Dublin in the bid. England has unsurprisingly the largest number of stadiums - it's the biggest country and hosts the Premier League where the facilities are the envy of many throughout the world.

In addition to Wembley, stadiums used by Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Manchester City and Everton represent England. In Wales, the 74,500-capacity Principality Stadium is nominated ahead of the Cardiff City Stadium.

Scotland has Hampden Park, and Ireland has the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. In Northern Ireland, a redevelopment of Casement Park, which is a stadium used by the Gaelic Athletic Association, is still a cause for concern due to funding issues and a lack of a working government executive at Stormont.

Mooney added; "It's very collegiate. We've put forward what we all want. It's the bid that's going forward... For us, we want to have group matches and a couple of matches after that.

"I think we'd be looking for four, five, or six matches. We'd be really happy and I think some of the other associations would be happy as well."

Who would host the final?

Wembley is the largest stadium but it was beset by problems when hosting the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy.

Even though several of the submitted stadia will hold in excess of 60,000 fans come 2028, Mooney believes Wembley should be the focal point for the conclusion of Euro 2028.

"The UK is at the forefront of security and intelligence. The final of Euro 2020 was a difficult day on the security front for so many - it was a shock because they're so good at managing these events," he said.

"I would take this as a one-off in this part of the world and knowing what has been done with the report - which was generated and has been actioned - all those things are going in the right direction. You can never do enough on security and I do know we will have a fantastic security proposal.

"You look at a tournament to get as many people to the games. It's about getting access to this really glorious special tournament, that's the principle we work on and based on that, Wembley is 90,000 people.

"Why would you deny tens of thousands of people going to a Euros final because of politics? I think we should try and get as many people as possible to the games."