We can land a big coup in ‘extra Euro hosts’ battle

TO pass the time while out walking, I’ve been listening to a podcast about the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest conflict of the American Civil War.

It is hosted by two official tour guides of the Pennsylvania battlefield, who have spiced things up by suggesting the outcome might have been different for the Confederate Army if General ‘Stonewall’ Jackson had been alive and in charge rather than his replacement General Richard Euell (Jackson died a few weeks before the July 1863 hostilities).

What’s this got to do with football, you may ask? Not a lot admittedly, save to say I’ve opted to enter the realm of ‘What if?’ this week regarding the venues for the Euro 2020 finals, which have been deferred until June 11July 11 of 2021.

As things stand, there are 12 host cities, including Dublin, which has been allocated three group games and a last-16 game.

As we know, should the Republic of Ireland survive the play-off potholes under Stephen Kenny, two of Ireland’s games will be at Aviva Stadium.

But there could be a shake-up to the schedule in the coming weeks as UEFA chiefs strive to resolve issues which have surfaced at host cities following the deferral of the finals by 12 months.

It’s understood that two cities, Amsterdam and Copenhagen, have internal problems which may cause a review of their capacity to tick all the boxes demanded by UEFA.

LIKE Dublin, each city is due to stage three group games and one in the knockout phase. The issues have been flagged to UEFA, which has put back its next Executive Committee meeting until June 17 in an effort to buy time and allow all cities to confirm their availability, or otherwise.

UEFA is committed to the panEurope format, having put the building blocks in place of Michel Platini’s concept from 2012.

To tear it all down and start planning again is a Doomsday scenario they will avoid at all costs.

If UEFA can’t get an unequivocal guarantee from 12 cities next month, they will run with 11. If two hosts drop out, they can still press ahead with 10.

President Aleksander Ceferin even said this week UEFA can get by with nine cities.

As of now, the 51 matches are split up among 12 cities. Each one has a minimum of four games, with London’s Wembley staging seven after Brussels backed out at short notice over stadium funding.

As the relevant agencies here – the Government, Dublin City Council, Aviva Stadium and the FAI – signed off on April 30 to go again in 2021, Dublin’s availability is not in doubt.

That collective commitment will stand in the capital’s favour should UEFA be forced to allocate games assigned to cities who can’t deliver, for whatever reason.

Also in Dublin’s favour is that the games in Amsterdam and Copenhagen are from the same tier — three in the group phase and one from the last 16 — and none of those eight games clash with the Dublin dates.

In terms of fans, the fair city is 100 minutes flying time from Amsterdam, and 130 minutes from Copenhagen.

Another plus is that Dublin is proven as a big-match venue following its successful staging of the 2011 Europa League final between Porto and Braga.

So let’s hark back to ‘What if?’ turf again.

Could Aviva Stadium host extra games at the finals on top of the four games already allocated?

And could games be played there on back-to-back days, if necessary?

Sportsmail understands there is no issue turning the stadium around in 24 hours.

For example, the Netherlands versus Ukraine on the night of June 12 next year could be followed by Poland against the playoff winner (hopefully, Ireland) the next evening.

Even one extra game would be an immense commercial boost to an economy crying out for all the assistance it can get when the Covid-19 coast is finally clear.

It is estimated the economic benefits of Dublin staging four games is between €106million and €130million. A fifth game would bump that number up by an estimated €20m.

It’s why the FAI, and its LOC (local organising committee) team, will closely follow events at the next ExCo summit, eager for news from the front.

As for the Battle of Gettysburg, it was fought over three days, July 1-3, dates which coincide with the quarter-finals of ‘Euro 2020’ next summer.

With cities dithering about being part of the jamboree next summer or not, the time for ‘stonewalling’ is almost over.

Dublin could be standing strong when the gunsmoke clears.