THAMES: The UK and Ireland could abandon their bids for the 2030 World Cup in favor of Euro 2028

The Times reported that the United Kingdom and Ireland may abandon their plans to bid for the 2030 World Cup in favor of the 2028 European Championship.

Earlier, senior figures in the international football industry suggested that bidding for the World Cup was too risky. There are fears that the bids of the United Kingdom and Ireland for the 2030 World Cup will be affected by political factors and the fact that the international football association will allow new countries to host the World Cup. FA President Prince William also said he would not be willing to participate in the World Cup bid after his negative experience of bidding for england for the 2018 World Cup, if the probability of losing again is high.

While no final decision has yet been made, turning to a bid for Euro 2028 now looks like the odds are high, and they have to make a decision before March. It is reported that in the high-level talks held before Christmas, the five relevant football associations discussed, and one of the executives said that this is a brainless thing, telling the Times: "If this is the message that the situation is transmitting, then we must listen to it." ”

With UEFA planning to expand from 24 to 32 teams in Euro 2028, many European institutions believe that hosting the European Championship in the UK and Ireland will bring commercial success, especially considering that a lot of infrastructure is already in place. UEFA president Ceferin also said that the previous fan riots would not affect the bid for the relevant events.

The bid plan for the UK and Ireland is that England will host 4 of the 8 groups in the European Championship, 1 group competition in each other countries or regions, and some knockout rounds. The training camps for 32 teams will be run by 5 host countries. Although the feasibility study for the bid for the 2030 World Cup is still underway, industry insiders say it would be foolish to ignore the advice given by european football executives, the possibility of a successful bid for Euro 2028 is obvious, and the rest of the money should still be used to support grassroots football.

Russia and Turkey are also interested in bidding for Euro 2028, but a joint bid by the UK and Ireland will be seen as a popular option, with Russia hosting the 2018 World Cup and Turkey having failed to bid several times. For Euro 2028, UEFA needs to take into account factors such as risk, political controversy, ticket sales, human rights issues, business success and more. If Euro 2028 has 5 host countries or regions, they all need to qualify for the tournament, rather than automatically obtaining a seat, but this would be appropriate for England, as playing only friendly matches before euro 2028 is not good for them, and there is no comment on the matter at this time.

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