SFA willing to help host Euros

THE Scottish FA has declared itself ready to step in and host extra Euro 2020 matches if UEFA is forced to activate a contingency to switch the tournament to the UK.

UEFA remains confident it will be able to stick to its original plan of staging the delayed finals across 12 host cities next summer. But with the Covid-19 pandemic still not under control, a plan to move the competition to these shores

has been discussed. The English FA has held preliminary talks with the European body, and the SFA has also been involved in the consultation process.

At present, Hampden is scheduled to host Scotland’s Group D matches against the Czech Republic and Croatia next June, plus an additional round-of-16 fixture.

The SFA has privately indicated a willingness to take on more games if necessary, but chief executive Ian Maxwell does not expect a decision to be made before the turn of the year.

‘It is going to be interesting,’ he said. ‘We have a team that have been engaged with UEFA and they had a meeting in the last fortnight at which it was reiterated that the 12-city model was still the preferred option.

‘If there is going to be a situation where getting spectators into stadiums is difficult or impossible, then UEFA have to make the best decision in terms of the finances of the competition -— because there is a lot involved with 12 cities.

‘There has been talk about the virus and the vaccine, potentially, so I would imagine they will wait until the start of 2021 and make a decision at that point.’

The national stadium, already brought up to specification for a tournament which ought to have been played back in June, would be available if required.

However, the possibility of more Scottish stadia being brought into the equation has not been ruled out if the entire tournament is brought to British soil.

The prospect of the tournament going to Russia appears to have receded.

‘It would be absolutely fantastic if we have Hampden bouncing for the games we are playing in,’ said Maxwell. ‘The most important thing is that we are there and everybody will get to watch us.’

For Scotland boss Steve Clarke, the tournament’s most important dimension is the presence of supporters in stadiums.

Scotland’s two Euro 2020 play-off wins against Israel and Serbia were played out behind closed doors and Clarke hopes the Tartan Army gets the chance to enjoy their team’s return to the big stage next summer regardless of where the matches are played.

He said: ‘It would be great if we could do it in the original format, but the most important part for me is that the supporters can be in the stadium.

‘Whether it’s spread across Europe or in one country, we want supporters in stadiums to make sure it’s the occasion it should be for a major finals.

‘It’s been a long wait for us and I want the Tartan Army to be there.

‘You have to respect that if we don’t get the pandemic under control by next summer, then maybe it has to go to one country to make it a little bit safer. If the games are at Hampden and there’s no crowd there, it’s not going to be the same. So maybe if we had to move to another country and there was crowds there that might also be helpful for us.’

Meanwhile, Clarke hopes that the anticipated £9million windfall provided by qualification will help stave off job losses at the SFA.

The association is currently in a consultation process to make 18 redundancies in the face of a projected loss of £4.5m.

‘Everybody knows that this is a very difficult time for everyone,’ said Clarke. ‘I believe the Scottish FA have already taken out a £5m loan to try and help and obviously the fact we have qualified means there is going to be some more revenue coming in.

‘It will probably be too late to save some of the jobs that are going to go, which is a shame, but maybe it will stop future redundancies.’