By Andrew Warshaw
September 21 – Belgium’s football leaders have been given an end-of-November deadline to convince UEFA they can deliver a stadium to host part of Euro 2020.
Brussels’ Eurostadium was picked to host three group-stage games and a Round of 16 knockout match as part of the one-off pan-European finals that mark the competition’s 60thanniversary.
But construction has been fraught with political and legislative problems and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin revealed Wednesday that Stockholm, Cardiff and Wembley have all been put on stand-by to step in if necessary.
“We still trust Brussels so let’s see,” Ceferin told reporters at a press conference in Nyon following a Uefa executive committee meeting. “But if Brussels will not be able to do it, it’s too late to open another bidding procedure so we will ask Cardiff and Stockholm if they are interested. Plus, the only venue of the 13 cities that hosts Euro 2020 but doesn’t stage group games is Wembley so we will speak with England too.”
Brussels’ new venue is set to replace the King Baudouin Stadium – formerly known as Heysel – but Belgian federation secretary general Koen de Brabander told reporters on the sidelines of UEFA meetings in Geneva this week that although they were still hopeful, “we are realistic that it’s depending on other parties. We as a federation are not in the lead to take decisions.”
Both Stockholm and Cardiff were part of the original bidding process under previous UEFA president Michel Platini but both lost out. If Brussels misses the deadline, Stockholm is likely to get the nod when UEFA’s executive committee makes a final decision on December 7 since Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium hosted the Champions League final in June.
Nevertheless, Football Association of Wales chief executive Jonathan Ford said in a statement: “Naturally the FAW are delighted to be given this opportunity. We will work hard to once again produce a strong case for the games to be played in Cardiff and will use the experience of the Champions League to demonstrate what a success we will make of hosting these matches.”
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