SCOTS FACE WEMBLEY TRIP IN EURO 2020 AFTER UEFA U-TURN

SCOTLAND will have to play England at Wembley in Euro 2020 if they make it to the finals via the play-offs — after UEFA last night rewrote the rulebook. Both Hampden and Wembley are host stadiums for the tournament and UEFA had previously announced Scotland and England would be paired together in Group D for the showpiece occasion if they qualified. The governing body had previously indicated to both FAs there would be a toss of the coin to see whether the match would be staged in Glasgow or London. But after last night’s meeting in Ljubljana of UEFA’s Executive Committee, they have now updated their procedures for the games in the finals. And they have ruled that the nation who qualify automatically, almost certainly England, will have preference over countries who rely on a play-off to get there. Their updated Euro 2020 finals regulations now state: ‘If one of the host teams is directly qualified and the other host team is in the play-offs, then the directly qualified host team will be awarded three group matches at home and the other team would play two matches at home.’ Wembley has also been chosen to host the Champions League final in 2023. Meanwhile, UEFA have also revealed the launch of a third European competition called the European Conference League. The new tournament will sit beneath and be played alongside the Champions League and Europa League from 2021. UEFA’s idea is to give more clubs the opportunity to play European football, although it isn’t yet known how teams will qualify for the new tournament. It is thought at least one Scottish Premiership club would be involved.