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The UK and Ireland\u2019s bid to host Euro 2028 has been formally approved, UEFA has announced.<\/p>\n
Ten stadia across the five nations will host the matches in five years\u2019 time, with analysts projecting a three billion euro (\u00a32.6bn) boost to the host nation economies on the back of the tournament.<\/p>\n
The bid was unopposed after Turkey withdrew to focus on a joint bid for the 2032 finals alongside Italy, and it was given the official seal of approval by UEFA\u2019s executive committee on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Wembley is set to host the final \u2013 and potentially both semi-finals \u2013 with the other English venues included in April\u2019s final bid submission being the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, Villa Park, St James\u2019 Park and Everton\u2019s new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock.<\/p>\n
Cardiff\u2019s Principality Stadium, Hampden Park in Glasgow, Dublin\u2019s Aviva Stadium and a redeveloped Casement Park in Belfast will also host matches.<\/p>\n
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer welcomed the news, saying: \u201cI\u2019m thrilled we\u2019ve secured UEFA EURO 2028. It will be the biggest sporting event ever jointly hosted in the UK and Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will put on a brilliant tournament with fans at its heart. We will warmly welcome fans from across Europe to our islands\u2019 shores and give people memories that will last a lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of that, the tournament is expected to deliver up to \u00a32.6 billion of socio-economic benefit across the host nations, creating jobs and opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
All five nations are expected to go through qualification for the tournament, with UEFA understood to be reserving two host nation places for any of the teams which do not make it on merit.<\/p>\n
The UK-Ireland bid would have been the overwhelming favourite to host Euro 2028 even if Turkey had remained in the race. Senior UEFA sources have repeatedly stressed the importance of hosting another European Championship in a major market \u2013 following on from Euro 2024 in Germany \u2013 as essential to boosting UEFA\u2019s finances in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
There will still be issues for the bid team to resolve over the next five years however \u2013 with agreement still to be reached on who will fund the redevelopment of Casement Park.<\/p>\n
Plans for a 34,000 stadium have been delayed by legal challenges and are further complicated by the lack of a functioning Executive at Stormont.<\/p>\n
Costs have also risen from an original estimate of \u00a377.5million to more than\u00a0 \u00a3100m. The GAA is part-funding the project but has not reached an agreement with Stormont over where the remainder will come from.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s decision means England will be involved in hosting a Euros for a third time. They hosted alone in Euro 96 and were one of 11 countries involved in staging the continent-wide Euro 2020.<\/p>\n
The UK and Ireland associations first announced they were focusing on a bid for Euro 2028 in February last year.<\/p>\n
It had been expected that they would bid for the centenary World Cup in 2030 but Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham admitted at the time there were \u201cmany areas of uncertainty\u201d with doing so, leading to the switch in focus.<\/p>\n