The UK Government said recently it will not fund the redevelopment of Northern Ireland’s (UK) Casement Park in time for the 2028 European Championship.
‘Reuters’ stated that the derelict West Belfast stadium was earmarked to host five matches in EURO 2028 being jointly hosted by the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The Casement Park is the principal Gaelic games stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located in Andersonstown Road in the West of the City and is named after the Irish revolutionary Roger Casement. The stadium, which has been closed since June 2013, previously had a capacity of approximately 31,500.
The 2028 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA EURO 2028, or simply EURO 2028, will be the 18th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship. It will be jointly hosted by the United Kingdom and Ireland. It will be hosted from June 9th-July 9th.
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the EURO, or the EUROS, is the primary association football tournament organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contested by the UEFA members’ senior men’s national teams determining the continental champion of Europe. It is the second most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup™.
Nyon (Switzerland)-based the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach football in Europe and the transcontinental countries of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan, as well as the West Asian countries of Cyprus, Armenia and Israel. The UEFA consists of 55 national association members. Since 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian national teams and clubs from any FIFA and UEFA competitions.
‘Reuters’ further stated that in a letter to the British jurisdiction’s Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons, the UK’s Northern Ireland Minister Hilary Benn said the cost of building the Casement Park had risen to 400 million pounds ($524.8 million) and the UK Government will not fund the redevelopment because of the risk it would not be built in time.
Maintained Benn, “The estimated build costs have risen dramatically – from £180m when the EURO 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 to potentially over £400m – and there is a significant risk that it would not be built in time for the tournament. We have therefore, regrettably, decided that it is not appropriate for the UK Government to provide funding to seek to build the Casement Park in time to host matches at EURO 2028. This has been a very difficult decision to make given our belief in the EURO 2028 partnership but it is the only way forward in the circumstances.”
Michelle O’Neill, the Irish nationalist leader of Northern Ireland’s regional Government, said the decision not to proceed in time to host the UEFA Euro 2028 was “deeply disappointing and a missed opportunity not only for local sport but for our economy”.
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