On September 19th, 2014 we reported the great news that the FAI had pulled off a stunning success with the announcement that Dublin would host three group stage matches and a round of 16 game at the finals of the Euro 2020 football championships.
Dublin was the fourth name called out by UEFA president Michel Platini. We joined Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest, Bilbao, Copenhagen and Glasgow in addition to London, Munich and Rome.
We revealed that the FAI bid featured very well in the UEFA evaluation report and that the FAI deserved full credit for a credible and comprehensive bid that succeeded where Stockholm among others had failed.
Today, six years and seven months after the joy, and ten months after the games should have been staged, the dream is over.
The transport and hotel boost from hosting 200,000 fans over the four matches would have been worth more than the best possible Six nations and while direct value assessments are unreliable there is no doubt that this would have been a €100 million win for the city, the country and the many businesses that could have gained.
It has been confirmed that the games will now be taking place in St Petersburg and at Wembley Stadium.
We’ve known it was coming of course, with public health policy making it too big a leap in too short a time to think we could manage 11,000 fans from Sweden, Slovakia and Poland in the Aviva Stadium.
But still, like an ailing relative, the end when it comes is always a blow.
We will recover, and the lessons learned in being brave enough to bid for events that would one day have only been possible in the imagination will stand to us.
But for today. It’s a kick in the guts for all those who have poured energy and effort into making it happen, nearly.
The FAI, Department of Tourism, Culture, the Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Aviva Stadium are all among more than 250+ members of the Sport for Business network of sporting and business organisations working together across a number of key areas.
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