As a result of the elimination of one participant city, the European Championship in 2028 will be held in nine stadiums rather than the 10 that were originally scheduled.
England, Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland are going to be the host countries for the UEFA European Championship 2028, which is scheduled to take place in the British Isles.
Hampden Park in Glasgow, Principality Stadium in Cardiff, and Aviva Stadium in Dublin will all be included on the calendar, in addition to six of the most prestigious stadiums in England.
Both Wembley Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be hosting major summer tournament events for the first time. Additionally, Wembley Stadium will be bringing European Championship matches back to London.
In addition, matches will be played at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester City and the brand-new Everton stadium located at Bramley Moore Dock. The sextet is finished off with two of the most well-known historic stadiums in English football: St. James’ Park in Newcastle and Villa Park, which is the home of Aston Villa.
Due to the fact that Windsor Park does not fulfil the conditions set out by UEFA, the five Premier League stadiums and four national venues will not be joined by Belfast’s Casement Park. Casement Park was supposed to be the only stadium representing Northern Ireland in the EURO 2028 tournament.
The government of the United Kingdom made the announcement in September that the anticipated cost of redeveloping the stadium had skyrocketed, and that the taxpayers would not be responsible for paying the bill.
In a letter addressed to Gordon Lyons, the Communities Minister of Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn and Sports Minister Lisa Nandy stated that “the estimated build costs have risen dramatically – from £180 million when the EURO 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 to potentially over £400 million.” Furthermore, there is a significant risk that it would not be built in time for the tournament.
Unfortunately, we have come to the conclusion that it would not be suitable for the government of the United Kingdom to give money in order to pursue the construction of Casement Park in time to host matches at the European Championship in 2028.
A subsequent decision was made to discontinue the project that was supposed to develop the property, which had been abandoned since 2013. It is as a consequence of this that Belfast is no longer a candidate for hosting the European Championship.
Ever since it ceased to hold gaelic sports in expectation of a planned reconstruction that never materialised, Casement Park has been abandoned and has not been used since.
Due to the fact that local people were successful in their opposition to the proposals for a stadium with 34,000 seats in 2014, the location has remained closed ever since.
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is the owner of the ground, and in the previous year, it decided not to increase the investment of £15 million that it had previously pledged to make.
During his speech, Lyons restated the Communities Department’s commitment to providing a GAA stadium, which had been signed in 2011.
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