CARDIFF IN EURO 2020 BID
WELSH FOOTBALL LOOKS TO FOLLOW UP ON SUCCESS OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
WALES could host matches at Euro 2020 after the Football Association of Wales launched a dramatic late bid to potentially replace Brussels.
Cardiff’s Principality Stadium will go up against Wembley and Stockholm as Uefa consider a replacement for the Belgian capital because the proposed new Eurostadium is yet to be built amid complications.
The tournament is being held in 13 host cities across Europe for the first time, with Wales initially missing out in their bid to be one of them back in 2014.
Since then, Uefa powerbrokers have been blown away by Cardiff’s staging of last season’s Champions League final, and now FAW bosses have been given the opportunity to launch a formal bid once again.
A decision is expected in December as to whether the matches will be hosted in Brussels, following an update on the build project, or one of the new venues.
Jonathan Ford, FAW chief executive, said: “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.
“It would be fantastic for Welsh football to not only qualify for the Euro 2020 finals, but also to stage some of the key matches”
If the bid is successful it will see one group game, likely but not certain to involve Wales, and a last-16 match played in the Welsh capital. Wembley has already been chosen to host games in the later stages of the competition, but is also now in the mix to host earlier games.
The FAW were left bitterly disappointed by their rejection three years ago, with boss Ford blaming politics as Wembley, Hampden Park and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium were chosen from Britain and Ireland.
The Welsh bid lost out to Scotland by a single vote but, ironically, that setback paved the way for Cardiff to host the Champions League final as the FAW impressed Uefa.
The 13 original chosen cities are London, Glasgow, Dublin, Munich, Rome, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Budapest, St Petersburg, Brussels, Bilbao, Bucharest and the Azerbaijan capital of Baku.