Dublin’s Euro 2020 fixtures moved to Russia

Ireland will not be hosting any Euro 2020 fixtures this Summer as the Irish government have been unable to guarantee the attendance of spectators.

As a result, the three Group E games featuring Slovakia, Sweden and Poland have switched to Saint Petersburg in Russia. The Aviva Stadium was also set to host a last-sixteen tie but it is expected that Wembley will now be the venue instead.

“Seville and San Petersburg – officially” tweeted UEFA vice-president Zbigniew Boniek, “There is a bit of work ahead of us, we start over, camp, journeys, all logistics”.

Boniek is an official of the Polish FA and Poland were scheduled to play matches in both Dublin and Bilbao. Bilbao is also unable to host games this Summer because of their ongoing Covid-19 situation.

A minimum 25% attendance was required for UEFA to sanction each host city but Tanaiste Leo Varadker says that it is “too soon” to allow over 12,000 supporters attend the Aviva.

“We’re just very cautious about that, we just think June is too soon,” he said.