FAI interim chief executive David Courell has declared the Aviva Stadium “open for business” following Friday’s announcement by the UK government that €470 million needed to rebuild Casement Park before Euro 2028 would not be forthcoming.
Uefa is yet to reveal where five matches which had been set for the Belfast venue will now go, but said he Courell hopes at least two will end up in Dublin.
Euro 2028 will be played across nine venues – Wembley and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Everton Stadium in Liverpool, St James’ Park in Newcastle, Hampden Park in Glasgow, Principality Stadium in Cardiff, City of Manchester Stadium, Villa Park in Birmingham and the Aviva.
“We are disappointed that [Casement] has not come to pass,” said Courell, speaking at the FAI’s AGM held in Dublin on Saturday. “Like the other nine partners involved in this project, the five associations and five governments, have always wanted Northern Ireland to feature as a host venue at Euro 2028.
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“What does it mean for the Republic of Ireland? I believe by proof of the Europa League final we hosted in May of this year and the success of it proves we are capable of hosting major events in this country.
“We are absolutely open for business. The ‘Dublin Arena’ (Aviva) is there and if Uefa decide to reallocate games we would welcome the opportunity to host more.”
The AGM also heard warnings from general secretary of the Professional Footballers’ of Ireland Stephen McGuinness that Dundalk could “go out of business” in the next fortnight.
“It’s 12 years since we had a club go out of business,” said McGuinness. “It’s seven years since we had a payment issue, with Bray.
“I personally think this club within the next couple of weeks could go out of business. It’s a serious, serious problem. Some people seem to think it’s going to be saved. I don’t see that. At this moment in time, there’s no wages there for the players next week.
“The horse has bolted at this stage.”
Dundalk owner Brian Ainscough has struggled to keep the club afloat since an expected investment fell through last month.
“The players at this club, on average, earn the national living wage,” McGuinness added. “There’s no one here on €100,000 contracts. It is incumbent on the board to hold an independent inquiry into how this club has got into this trouble and to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
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