Government confirms commitment to host rescheduled UEFA EURO 2021 tournament

The Government has today agreed to reconfirm Ireland’s commitment to hosting matches as part of the rescheduled UEFA EURO 2020 tournament, which is now due to take place in 2021, subject to public health advice.

The four matches that were due to be played in Dublin in June 2020 are now provisionally scheduled to be played in June/July2021.

UEFA has asked all Governing Authorities and Member Football Associations to reconfirm their commitment to hosting the games by 30 April, 2020. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr Shane Ross, will now be writing to UEFA to make this commitment.

Minister Shane Ross said: “While it can be hard at times to see beyond the current public health emergency, we have to plan for the future and happier times. We were all looking forward to hosting the EUROs this Summer and I am pleased that the Government has recommitted to hosting next year, subject to public health advice. Since the outset of this project it has been the goal of the Government, the FAI, Dublin City Council and other stakeholders that Dublin be the best of the 12 hosting cities – that goal remains. It will be great opportunity to remind the world of how well we can deliver top class sporting events and to boost our international profile in a positive way. ”

Minister of State Brendan Griffin said “The rescheduled tournament will provide an opportunity for football to resonate more strongly than ever and, hopefully, will provide a much-needed boost to the millions of football enthusiasts who cherish the game as well as a welcome benefit to Dublin and Ireland. The Government very much welcomes that opportunity and remains fully committed to working with all of the local organisers and UEFA to mount a very successful UEFA EURO 2020 in Dublin in 2021, subject to the public health advice of the time.”

A pre-event economic study on the impact of hosting the tournament in Dublin and in Ireland estimated the economic impact from the direct spend by overseas tourists to be in the range of €106m-€128m with Exchequer revenues of €26m.