Manchester City’s Etihad is among the preferred host venues as England and Ireland plan a joint-bid to host the 2028 UEFA European Championships.
According to reports, Manchester United’s Old Trafford has been snubbed with organizers preferring Manchester City’s Etihad instead as a potential host venue.
Daily Mail reports, 14 stadiums were earmarked by the organizers as best and presentable turfs to host the tournament but the list will further be slashed to the best 10.
One of the most important criteria to stay ahead of competitors when launching bids for such high-profile tournaments is the quality of your stadiums.
Reports have it that England and Ireland joint bid for the tournament will be submitted to UEFA next week and the organizers are working tirelessly to shuffle up the best turfs to win the hosting rights.
Meanwhile, an in-house arrangement between England and Ireland to allow England have six of the ten hosting venues has been confirmed.
Wembley stadium has been primed to host the final of the tournament if the bid is won.
The City of Manchester makes the sixth venue listed in England to host the tournament with Etihad winning the confidence over rivals Old Trafford.
Why is Old Trafford snubbed For Etihad?
Notably, Manchester United’s Old Trafford carries more capacity than Etihad. Old Trafford has a capacity of 74,310. It is the biggest stadium in the Premier League.
Etihad has a capacity of 53,400, over 20,000 less than Old Trafford.
According to The Times, the organizers of England and Ireland bid for Euros 2028 prefer Etihad to Old Trafford due to its elaborate modern facilities compared to their city rivals’
Also, the relative size of Etihad compared to Old Trafford is not a problem since the club are planning to upgrade it to a 60,000-seater before 2028.
Manchester United Old Trafford’s would still have been a better choice base on capacity but organizers of the bid are concerned of the state of disrepair and moribund facilities at the Red side of Manchester.
There is also the uncertainty of when renovation of the facilities will be done amidst the lingering deadlock in the sale process.
Meanwhile, Manchester United themselves reportedly pushed for a bid to be one of the host venues for the tournament in 2028 but were forced to withdraw when they could not “provide the necessary certainty around the availability of Old Trafford due to potential redevelopment of the stadium.”
The club have reiterated their resolve to maintain Old Trafford’s status as one of the most iconic and largest football ground in England.
The club are awaiting a new owner after the Glazers announced the decision to sell the club.
The dragging takeover process is one of the reasons Manchester United have missed out from the list of stadiums for the tournament as the club cannot assure organizers renovation plan.
Apart from Etihad, some of the Premier League turfs that have been mapped out by the FA to be included in the hosting bid are Aston Villa’s Villa Park, Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park, and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
