G
Guest
·Following informal discussions between the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in Dublin last week, it has emerged that the countries are considering a joint bid between themselves, Wales and Northern Ireland to host the European Championships in 2008. With Hampden Park already down to host the 2002 European Champions League final, the Scots are eager to establish themselves as possible hosts, and the FAI are conscious of the need for money-spinning major tournaments as they set about spending in excess of £80m on the construction of Eircom Park.
"This all has its roots in an idea a guy was peddling last year about the possibility of the four Celtic countries hosting a World Cup," said FAI chief executive Bernard O'Byrne in Chicago yesterday. "We immediately dismissed that notion as far-fetched but I had a chat with the SFA chief executive David Taylor at the World Cup qualifying draw in Tokyo last year and we agreed that a European Championships might actually be viable and worth a bid."
The Irish dimension of the bid would require building to have already begun on Eircom Park and planning permission for that project remains at least two months away. But with three years to go before the submission of formal bids, the FAI feel that the idea is worth pursuing given that, in a best-case scenario, Eircom Park will be built by that point. The Scots, better served by proper stadia already, appear gung-ho.
"In the long-term," said David Taylor yesterday, "we are definitely looking at possibilities for international tournaments of whatever nature. Clearly, the World Cup is a non-starter - it's just too big an event.
"Getting the 2002 Champions League final is a terrific accolade and will definitely help our chances of getting other events in the future - there's no question of that. But we'd have to look at the other stadia and facilities apart from Hampden and see whether we would be sufficient on our own or would look to co-host.
"Some of the issues are not even about stadia - the number of hotels also comes into it. They are looking for 4,000 five-star hotel rooms for a single match - this is the sort of level you are talking about. We have to be realistic as well as looking at ways to stretch our ambitions. That is why the World Cup is a non-starter, it's fantasy land."
Scotland is already closer to meeting Uefa's stadia requirements than Portugal were when they were awarded the 2004 tournament last October. Of the 10 stadia the Portuguese plan to use, five will be completely new and the other half modernised.
Scotland already has four grounds fit for such a tournament, Hampden (52,046), Ibrox (50,403), Celtic Park (60,500) and, if the SRU agree, Murrayfield (67,500). Factor in Eircom Park, a rented Lansdowne Road or even the proposed Stadium Ireland in Abbotstown, a revamped Windsor Park (current capacity 28,500), and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and the logistics are not as daunting as they first appear.
"It is all very preliminary at the moment," says O'Byrne. "But we are always looking to develop as an association and we think the issue definitely warrants further discussion. In the event of a joint bid involving four countries, we would envisage participating in a qualifying group with our co-hosts to sort out two qualifiers because you couldn't have a situation where four countries gain automatic tickets."
As things stand, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland would probably have the best chance of achieving joint automatic qualification. Both reached the Euro 2000 play-offs and feature in the upper echelons of Uefa's seeding system - unlike Northern Ireland and Wales.
"This all has its roots in an idea a guy was peddling last year about the possibility of the four Celtic countries hosting a World Cup," said FAI chief executive Bernard O'Byrne in Chicago yesterday. "We immediately dismissed that notion as far-fetched but I had a chat with the SFA chief executive David Taylor at the World Cup qualifying draw in Tokyo last year and we agreed that a European Championships might actually be viable and worth a bid."
The Irish dimension of the bid would require building to have already begun on Eircom Park and planning permission for that project remains at least two months away. But with three years to go before the submission of formal bids, the FAI feel that the idea is worth pursuing given that, in a best-case scenario, Eircom Park will be built by that point. The Scots, better served by proper stadia already, appear gung-ho.
"In the long-term," said David Taylor yesterday, "we are definitely looking at possibilities for international tournaments of whatever nature. Clearly, the World Cup is a non-starter - it's just too big an event.
"Getting the 2002 Champions League final is a terrific accolade and will definitely help our chances of getting other events in the future - there's no question of that. But we'd have to look at the other stadia and facilities apart from Hampden and see whether we would be sufficient on our own or would look to co-host.
"Some of the issues are not even about stadia - the number of hotels also comes into it. They are looking for 4,000 five-star hotel rooms for a single match - this is the sort of level you are talking about. We have to be realistic as well as looking at ways to stretch our ambitions. That is why the World Cup is a non-starter, it's fantasy land."
Scotland is already closer to meeting Uefa's stadia requirements than Portugal were when they were awarded the 2004 tournament last October. Of the 10 stadia the Portuguese plan to use, five will be completely new and the other half modernised.
Scotland already has four grounds fit for such a tournament, Hampden (52,046), Ibrox (50,403), Celtic Park (60,500) and, if the SRU agree, Murrayfield (67,500). Factor in Eircom Park, a rented Lansdowne Road or even the proposed Stadium Ireland in Abbotstown, a revamped Windsor Park (current capacity 28,500), and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and the logistics are not as daunting as they first appear.
"It is all very preliminary at the moment," says O'Byrne. "But we are always looking to develop as an association and we think the issue definitely warrants further discussion. In the event of a joint bid involving four countries, we would envisage participating in a qualifying group with our co-hosts to sort out two qualifiers because you couldn't have a situation where four countries gain automatic tickets."
As things stand, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland would probably have the best chance of achieving joint automatic qualification. Both reached the Euro 2000 play-offs and feature in the upper echelons of Uefa's seeding system - unlike Northern Ireland and Wales.
