SFA TOLD STICK TOEUROSPLAN FOR HAMPDEN
numbers. But understands emergency talks were held last night where Nyon’s top brass urged the SFA to carry on with preparations to host at least four games at the National Stadium in Glasgow with a final decision on the fixtures and format expected to be announced in around six weeks’ time.
We revealed Hampden bosses had been made aware of a UEFA proposal to rip up the host city scheduling and take all next summer’s finals to just a single nation instead.
But with uncertainty over the future direction of the spread of the virus, president Aleksander Ceferin appears more keen to spread his bets in the hope that as many official host cities as possible will still be in a position to stage the games.
A source told us last night: “UEFA’s fear is that they select one country now only to discover that the numbers there are out of control in the summer.
“So they have asked all host cities to continue to prepare for the fixtures as scheduled.
“The great news for Scotland and Hampden is that they want to keep as many of the 12 options open to them for as long as possible.”
Scottish football’s historic summer had appeared to suffer a hammer blow earlier in the day when Rummenigge claimed to have the inside track on Ceferin’s probable next step – insisting that an alternative contingency plan was in the pipeline.
But we understand that last night’s guidance from Nyon advised the SFA to continue to prepare as scheduled for the big event – which will see Clarke’s side take on both the Czech Republic and Croatia at the National Stadium, either side of a Wembley date with England.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell is also aware that an 11th-hour U-turn may still have to be pushed through depending upon the progress of the battle against Covid-19.
It’s also highly unlikely that grounds will be open in full to supporters.
But Maxwell has been told to expect a decision to be made – one way or the other – in the first week of March despite Rummenige’s claims that Ceferin is already on the brink of pulling the plug in order to help prevent the pandemic’s spread.
Rummenigge said: “We shouldn’t forget that the idea to play this tournament was made when Covid-19 did not exist.
“At the time the initiative to play Euro 2020 all over the Continent was seen as a good idea.
“But I know that the UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin – who is incredibly careful with Covid – is thinking about whether it might not make more sense in these testing times to play the tournament in just one country.
“And that would be perfectly understandable because of the current situation.
“In the next few weeks, UEFA will and must make a decision on how and where the tournament is to take place.
“It will not be easy but as Aleksander Ceferin has explained to me, UEFA will make their decision with care and it will be the right one.”