Comments on: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Could Triple Co-Host Euro 2016

By: AJ

AJ — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:03:59 +0000

God! Enough with these co-hosting/tri-hosting/whatever the hell else. What happened to the good old days where we only had ONE nation as a host?

Thank you Korea and Japan for starting this awful trend.

By: Darcy

Darcy — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:34:18 +0000

If you look at the Euro 2008 qualifiers, both Scotland and Northern Ireland would have qualified if it had been a 24 team Euro, so it’s not that unreasonble for them to be in the finals automtically. And if it’s the very first 24 team Euro, I don’t see it being that significant.
And at least it’s not as bad s the four-way Norway-Sweden-Denmark-Finland bid for 2008.

By: Weston

Weston — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:33:25 +0000

too bad wales dosent exist in the world of football…..

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:41:17 +0000

i like the idea of the trifecta of atmosphere that would be included in this bid. However, three countries that have difficulty qualifying in the first place should not all get automatic qualification. Especially if, in Northern Ireland’s case, they probably won’t bring to much to the package. Bra’s idea is probably the best fit for the bid.

By: daryl

daryl — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:22:07 +0000

I like the idea of co-hosting without qualifying, and wasn’t aware that Luxembourg wouldn’t qualify as part of the Benelux bid.

Overall, I suppose if a nation is given a choice between either 1) co-hosting and going through qualification process or 2) not co-hosting and going through qualification process, then the first option is still preferable.

By: Bra

Bra — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:55:59 +0000

Maybe they could convince Northern Ireland to be only an honorary part of the bid. When the BeNeLux were proposing a bid, they made it clear that Luxembourg would not receive automatic qualification. That could work for this. Still, it doesn’t bode well that none of them made it into Euro 2008…

Personally, I think almost every other Euro (and even World Cup!) should now be co-hosted. There’s plenty of countries that can’t pull off each event alone, but could do so easily by combining with another country. This would open up the field of eligible hosts, which has honestly shrunk ever since the 32 team expansion and now that security has become so much more costly (post 9/11). In South America alone, imagine how many countries could combine to succesfully host a World Cup that couldn’t hold it alone; Uruguay, Chile, Colombia…

By: Peter Katsiris

Peter Katsiris — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:42:43 +0000

I don’t think I can handle a tri-host bid, even with the tournament featuring 24 teams.

Like you say Daryl, three is still too many — no matter the number of teams in the field. I think — and no offence to Northern Ireland — but maybe Wales and Scotland should scrap Northern Ireland from the mix and stick with a double-bid. I don’t know the specifics…but what is Northern Ireland offering to the pact?