The announcement will be a year ahead of schedule as there is only one bid, and the UK and Ireland will have until the end of the year to secure the necessary guarantees…reports Asian Lite News
The United Kingdom and Ireland reportedly look set to host Euro 2028 as no rival bids have been made ahead of Wednesday’s deadline.
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland announced their intention to bid for the tournament last month, having ruled out an attempt to host the 2030 World Cup.
Turkey and Russia were tipped to be potential rivals, but both have dropped out of the running.
According to the Times, the formal decision to award Euro 2028 to the UK and Ireland will be made on April 7, barring an unlikely last-minute entry before the March 23 deadline.
The announcement will be a year ahead of schedule as there is only one bid, and the UK and Ireland will have until the end of the year to secure the necessary guarantees.
It will be the first time the UK has hosted the Euros since 1996, although some Euro 2020 games were played in London and Glasgow.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said in February that the infrastructure is already in place to host a hugely lucrative tournament, which appeals to UEFA.
“We believe we can put together an incredibly strong tournament in many ways. We also know we can deliver a really strong commercial return to UEFA and we feel that puts us in a strong position.
“UEFA are being very transparent with all 55 countries that they want to use the 2024 [in Germany] and 2028 men’s Euros to rebuild their coffers and rebuild their reserves, which they’ve had to use during the pandemic.”
Euro 2024 will be hosted by Germany while the 2030 World Cup could be won by a joint bid from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay, and Italy are in the running for Euro 2032.
Russia had been in contention to host Euro 2028 until the invasion of Ukraine, while Turkey reportedly did not want to bid against the UK and Ireland.
Euro 2028 and Euro 2032 could both be expanded to 32 teams.
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