Football bosses underline nation’s case to stage Euro 2020 games
WELSH soccer bosses are hoping the quality of the Cardiff Champions League experience will hold sway ahead of geography and football politics as they face D-Day in their bold bid to bring Euro 2020 to the Welsh capital.
A high-powered FA of Wales delegation has travelled Nyon in Switzerland to await the outcome of Uefa’s decision on whether the Principality Stadium can become a host venue for the pan-European tournament.
Uefa’s 17-person executive committee meet this morning to decide if Brussels needs to be removed as one of the 13 host cities because of building problems with its planned Eurostadium.
If, as is being reported, Brussels misses out, Wales are locked in three-way fight with Stockholm and Wembley to stage the games already pencilled in for the Belgian capital.
The FAW are confident they have submitted an excellent technical bid, centred around the palatial 74,000-seater home of Welsh rugby and how they so successfully staged the Real Madrid versus Juventus showpiece final just six months ago.
Those two giants of the world game, their Army of fans and Uefa powerbrokers were bowled over by the professionalism and warmth of welcome they received in Wales ahead of, during and after the match.
Wales have presented a compelling case to join the Euro 2020 party and hope their bid is judged on its merit to deliver the best experience at one of the greatest sporting venues in the world.
However, Uefa have already committed to Wembley, Glasgow’s Hampden Park and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium as host venues, when they will take games around the continent to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Championships.
And there are private fears amongst some Welsh officials that Uefa may opt for Sweden to stop the tournament becoming top-heavy with British and Irish venues should Cardiff also be thrown into the mix.
By contrast, Copenhagen is the only Scandinavian representative so far.
Stockholm’s Friends Arena stadium hosted the Manchester United versus Ajax Europa League final this year, but has a 20,000 fewer capacity than the Principality Stadium.
Welsh FA officials have lobbied most members of the executive committee in a bid to turn the vote their way, including Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin.
The committee is headed up by Ceferin (Slovenia), while Sweden’s Karl-Erik Nilsson is first vice-president. It is thought unlikely he would get to vote.
Football legends Zbigniew Boniek (Poland) and Davor Suker (Croatia) also sit on the panel, as does former Manchester United chief David Gill.
FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford says Wales have worked 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.”
He went on: “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.”
The original 13 venues chosen were Wembley (London), Hampden Park (Glasgow), Dublin, Munich, Rome, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Budapest, Brussels, Bucharest, Bilbao, St Petersburg and Baku.