Ireland’s hosting of UEFA European Championship matches look in serious doubt this evening as the FAI have informed Europe’s footballing governing body that it can’t give assurances over fan attendance.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Football Association of Ireland confirmed that they have written to UEFA to inform them that they cannot give any assurances over minimum fan attendance at matches.
The news comes as the Aviva Stadium was due to host four matches in the tournament from June.
However despite the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out being expected to gather pace in the coming weeks, the FAI say on advice from the Government they have decided to inform the footballing body of its position over spectator attendance.
The FAI say they will continue to review the situation along with the Government via the Local Organising Structure and they will provide UEFA with updated information on an ongoing basis.
Although UEFA have yet to make any decisions on hosting last year’s postponed tournament, the FAI’s statement could potentially see games being moved from Dublin to another city.
It is thought that UEFA could potentially consider another city given the fact that the Republic of Ireland will not be participating in the tournament.
The footballing body could evaluate the situation and determine that another city would be more viable provided that they could be given assurances over reduced fan attendance.
Dublin was amongst the 12 cities chosen to host a number of matches at the 24 nation tournament which was originally due to be held in the summer of 2020.
However given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, UEFA decided to rearrange the tournament’s date and it is expected to get underway on Friday the 11th of June.
Under the original plans the Aviva Stadium was expected to host three group matches as well as one of the round of 16 matches.
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