Celtic Trio Formally Submit Euro 2020 Bid

With hours to go before the midnight deadline, Celtic nations Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have informed UEFA that they would like to jointly bid for the 2020 European Championship.

According to media reports, the three countries have been holding secret talks for weeks and officially declared their intention to bid a few hours before the midnight deadline for initial written expressions of interest – and will now go head-to-head with Turkey.

Until yesterday, only Turkey had come forward despite Istanbul’s bid for the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in the same year.

If the Celtic nations are successful in their bid, it would be the first ever tri-hosting of a major football event.

In a statement, the Scottish Football Association insisted the declaration did not mean a definite three-nation bid: ‘We can confirm that we have had initial discussions on the principle of a joint bid with both Wales and the Republic of Ireland and have declared our interest to UEFA in order that we can fully explore the opportunity in more detail.’

‘At this stage no bids are expected by UEFA in relation to Euro 2020. These will not be required for at least 18 months.’

UEFA’s criteria on both stadiums and infrastructure has ruled out a number of potential hosts, with the tournament being expanded from 16 to 24 teams in France in 2016.

Euro 2020 bidders would need to put forward up to 10 stadiums to host matches though UEFA would probably accept eight.

Scotland and the Republic of Ireland bid jointly for Euro 2008 but were one of the first to be eliminated, while Scotland and Wales considered bidding jointly for Euro 2016 but ultimately decided against it.