The news we have been anticipating for some time has been confirmed today, with Dublin set to lose the four Euro 2020 games it had been set to host this summer.
⚽️ NEW: Euro 2020 group games will NOT happen in Dublin this summer. Irish Gov could not give assurances of having 11,000 people in a stadium or meeting UEFA requirements on spectators @rtenews
— Mary Regan (@MaryERegan) April 23, 2021
UEFA had been seeking assurances from the Government that the Aviva Stadium could be filled with up to 25 per cent of its capacity for the June fixtures, something they would not commit to. As a result, the Dublin fixtures look set to be moved to St Petersburg and London.
This was expected news, but it looks as though Ireland will be the only one of the 12 countries involved in the tournament that will not host any games this summer. Bilbao are the only other city to lose games, with those fixtures being moved to Seville.
Let's just preface this by saying that we might not be missing out on a whole lot here in terms of the football on show.
Ireland's failure to qualify certainly took away most of the excitement that had been present amongst the footballing public in this country. We didn't even have the visit of a genuine footballing power to look forward to in the group stages, with Slovakia, Sweden, and Poland set to feature in the fixtures.
Brian Kerr certainly doesn't rate that bunch.
Brian Kerr clearly doesn't rate Poland, Slovakia or Sweden sopic.twitter.com/OIlzk2cy4B
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 7, 2021
And yet, there is just something about this that really isn't a good look for the decision makers in this country.
Euro 2020 was set to be the biggest sporting event that had ever taken place on these shores. Regardless of the teams involved, it would have been exciting to see Dublin displayed on the international stage.
The decision not to commit to crowds of over 10,000 in the Aviva this summer is perhaps an understandable one, but one has to wonder how Ireland are the only country out of 12 that have failed to meet this requirement.
After all, the people in this country have been subjected to by far the longest lockdown in Europe. Not only that, but we are coming out of it much slower than other nations. Should we not be in a better position than most to host these games?
Questions will be asked about a Government that implements the harshest policies but yet seems to be behind out European neighbours when it comes to moving towards the next phase of this pandemic.
We have been in a five-month lockdown with no roadmap for how we will come out of it as of yet, with the vaccine rollout spluttering at every turn. It is difficult to be optimistic about anything in this country right now, especially when we couldn't even host four football games.
Looks like we will just have to 'hold firm' and see if our 2030 FIFA World Cup bid comes to fruition...
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