Croke Park officials have confirmed an agreement with Uefa to make the stadium available for a Europa League final watch party on May 22nd, should there be a need for an alternative venue to host supporters unable to get tickets for the Aviva Stadium encounter.
A joint approach was made by Dublin City Council and Uefa on the possibility of reserving GAA headquarters as a potential fan zone. The arrangement is predicated on Liverpool advancing to the final, with concerns the involvement of Jürgen Klopp’s side would see thousands of ticketless fans travel to Dublin.
Croke Park is available that week – the Europa League final takes place three days after Bruce Springsteen plays at the venue.
“Uefa are very conscious of the fact they can’t assume who gets to the final, but they are saying if Liverpool did so then they would expect more than the ticketing number to travel, so they are looking to put fan zones in place,” says Croke Park stadium director Peter McKenna.
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“Those are the conversations we’ve been having around the game, but there is a lot more to happen between now and May 22nd.”
At a briefing on Tuesday, Uefa secretary Theodore Theodoridis said certain final pairings could be “extremely challenging” and it remains to be seen if a Liverpool-Rangers decider could potentially even force the game out of Dublin.
There have been reports in the UK that alternative venues are under consideration as a contingency, but the FAI expect the match to take place in Dublin, regardless of the pairing.
“Dublin is both excited and ready to host a successful Uefa Europa League final, ensuring that the finalist clubs and their supporters experience a professional and warm Irish welcome,” said a spokesman for the FAI.
“As one of the biggest club football matches in the world, this is a genuine major event and as such, we scenario plan for all eventualities. In the case of significant demand, we have contingency plans in place to cater for all scenarios, which include additional viewing sites, with all local stakeholders focused on delivering a successful final for Uefa.
“We wish all the clubs involved in the competition the best of luck and we look forward to working with Uefa over the coming months, finalising our preparations and getting ready to welcome thousands of football fans to our city in May.”
The Aviva Stadium hosted the Europa League final in 2011, with Porto beating Braga 1-0 in that all-Portuguese showpiece.
Croke Park held smaller Pittsburgh Steelers watch-parties during the recent NFL season but staging one for the Europa League final would be executed on a far grander scale. McKenna says the finer details are still to be determined and the capacity required would be dependent on advice from Uefa and Dublin City Council.
“Essentially it would be an event in its own right. People could come to Croke Park, sit in the stands and watch the game on big screens which we would place on the pitch. So you would be getting the experience of the game while not being at the game,” added McKenna.
“From a crowd management point of view it makes a lot of sense because instead of guys wandering around wondering if they are going to be going to the match or not, at least they would be able to get a ticket for this and come watch the game.
“We are responding in a way that would support the city council. These sporting events are great for the city, but the city needs to come out of it well too.”
The eight quarter-finalists will be known after Thursday night’s last 16 second leg matches are completed. Liverpool are almost certain to be in the last eight as they lead Sparta Prague 5-1 after the first leg. Rangers and Benfica are tied on 2-2 ahead of their second leg in Ibrox. West Ham, Brighton, Marseille, AC Milan, Roma and Bayern Leverkusen are among the sides still involved.
Speaking on Tuesday, Theodoridis said: “One of the biggest challenges for us this year could be the Europa League final.
“There are a couple of pairings – I won’t speculate on the names but you are clever enough to work it out – that would be extremely challenging to find ways to accommodate everybody that will be present for that game.”
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