Dublin's Croke Park has been left off the list of potential venues in a joint bid to co-host Euro 2028 amongst the football associations of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales.
The Aviva Stadium in Dublin and the proposed new Casement Park development in Belfast are the two venues on the island of Ireland on a 10-strong list of stadia as the five nations adopt a “one city, one stadium” policy.
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The GAA had voted to allow Croke Park to be part of the bid which was submitted to UEFA on April 12, but instead, they will reap the benefits of a newly built Casement, funded almost entirely by the UK government.
Wembley Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Etihad Stadium, St. James’ Park, the new Everton Stadium in Liverpool, and an expanded Villa Park feature in England, while the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and Hampden Park in Glasgow are also among the 10 proposed venues.
FAI CEO Jonathan Hill said in a statement: “In all major bid processes, you start with a shortlist of stadia, and this is whittled down to a final agreed list in order to give the bid the best chance of success and reflects the streamlined nature of the tournament.
“This bid started with 14 stadia, and we now have our agreed final 10 which have been submitted.
"The bid, with the exemption of London, is based on a ‘one city, one stadia’ principle, and together we believe the list offers an array of superb stadia from across the UK and Ireland.
“This will only support our plans to grow the game and will act as a catalyst as we seek to finance infrastructure across all levels of Irish football, from grassroots to League of Ireland.
"Our hope is to welcome football fans from Europe and across the world to Dublin for a number of great games in 2028 and that is a really exciting prospect for all of us.”
*This column first appeared in the April 19 edition of the weekly Irish Voice newspaper, sister publication to IrishCentral.
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