THE Ulster Council says it will keep an open mind should the IFA want to consider including Casement Park as part of Britain and Ireland’s audacious bid to host the European Championships in 2028 which was announced yesterday.
Speaking on a zoom press call yesterday morning, where the football associations from each jurisdiction was present, IFA chief Patrick Nelson didn’t rule out seeking assistance from their sporting partners to maximise the north’s chances of hosting games in 2028 should the bid be successful.
Windsor Park’s capacity is 18,500, which falls considerably short of the requisite capacity of 30,000 to stage games at a major tournament.
As it stands, the north could only offer itself as a training base for finalists.
But if a new state-of-the-art Casement Park gets the green light – pending a judicial review next month – it would be potentially the only sports stadium in the north to meet UEFA criteria on capacity to host games.
“If we are approached by the IFA, Croke Park or the FAI just as we were for the 2023 Rugby World Cup bid, we’d sit down with the relevant associations and talk,” said Ulster GAA chief Brian McAvoy.
The Ulster GAA and the Irish Football Association enjoy a cordial relationship and have been involved in many ventures of mutual interest.
“We speak to the GAA on a regular basis,” Nelson said. “I probably speak to Brian [McAvoy] every two weeks if not every week, we keep each other up to date on a lot of things and speak about a lot of issues.
“Nothing is ruled in or out at this point, other than the fact that we definitely want to host games in Northern Ireland.
“We're not along for the ride. We want to be a full part in the bid and we'll be talking to everybody that we need to going forward.”
Eleven months ago, the football associations of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales tabled a bid to host the 2030 World Cup finals.
Before it floundered, Antrim chairman Ciaran McCavana insisted that Casement Park should be front and centre of any such bid.
“If there is a bid it would be wrong to think that the west Belfast venue couldn’t play an important role and stage some games,” McCavana said.
