Joint Euro bid ditched by Welsh and Scots

March 2, 2009

Scotland and Wales have decided against a bid for the 2016 Euros tournament because of the current financial crisis. The costs became a concern when Uefa announced that the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams.

Both countries would have had to spend many millions upgrading and building new stadia for the tournament.

Federations have until 9 March to apply to host Euro 2016, but so far only France has submitted an application.

Deputy first minister and minister for economy and transport Ieuan Wyn Jones said the money required was excessive.

“The cost of bringing other venues up to this standard would run into tens of millions of pounds,” he said.

“In the current economic and financial climate, this is unaffordable.”

A Scottish FA spokesman added: “The Scottish FA can confirm that we will not be pursuing a joint bid for the 2016 European Championships.

“The infrastructure required for the new expanded tournament makes it extremely difficult for us to even consider hosting.

“Quite apart from the stadia required, the pressure on transport, training camps and accommodation would be massive.

“We do want to host a major championships here in Scotland but, particularly in these tough economic times, we have to be realistic about the huge costs involved.

“Our focus for now is on qualifying for the big events in our own right.”

SFA head of communications Rob Shorthouse believes the expansion of the tournament means only Europe’s largest nations will be able to act as hosts in future.

“The only country that’s put their name forward so far to host the championships in 2016 is France, so it shows you that it’s the big nations that are going to be bidding for these championships in future,” “We always knew it was going to be difficult. We always said as soon as the championship was expanded to 24 teams that would immediately rule us out of ever doing it of by ourselves and it would only ever be a joint bid.

“Even heading back to the World Cup in Germany, with over a million people in fan parks - that’s a huge burden to put on cities in Scotland like Glasgow and Edinburgh and on Cardiff in Wales.”

Scotland and Wales are famed for their hospitality and Shorthouse believes it could have been a memorable spectacle.

“Scotland would put on a hell of a show, it would be a great championships and as we go forward maybe they’ll be other opportunities to do it again,” he said.

Austria and Switzerland staged Euro 2008, won by Spain, with the 2012 tournament set to be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

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