Government 'still hopeful' extra Euro 2028 games will be held in Irish venues 

Minister Thomas Byrne said that Government and FAI made a pitch to Uefa to use other venues, including Croke Park and Cork's  Páirc Úi Chaoimh. Picture: File picture

The Government is still hopeful that extra Euro 2028 games will be held in venues other than the Aviva Stadium, with Croke Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh still being touted to Europe's football governing body.

Outgoing sports minister Thomas Byrne said that Ireland is “expecting” to host extra matches, after the redevelopment of Casement Park in Belfast fell through.

“I don’t think it’s fully determined that there won’t be extra matches. We are still expecting more,” Mr Byrne said.

The minister said that Government and FAI made a pitch to Uefa to use other venues, including Croke Park and Páirc Úi Chaoimh.

“We knew that would be a difficult case but it was a case that was made to the FAI.

“I did know that it would be difficult to do that at this particular point, because they had done the inspections some time ago.

“But these things can still change. So we’re certainly not going to give up completely on it.”

Asked if he was disappointed that any extra matches are now likely to be held in Dublin rather than in regional cities, Mr Byrne said that it was always going to be a Uefa decision.

He said the outgoing government’s priority was to have more regional balance to international sporting events, highlighting that the 2027 Ryder Cup will be held in Limerick.

We’re not going to win every single ask that we make, but it is something that is very, very, very important. They can’t all be in Dublin.

“It is a very clear requirement of the Government that there will be extra games on the island as a result of Belfast not going ahead.”

Mr Byrne said that while it was not in the purview of the government, automatic qualification for Ireland in the tournament “looks good”.

Meanwhile, Mr Byrne called on world governing body Fifa to take further action to consider human rights, after the footballing federation confirmed the host of the 2034 World Cup would be Saudi Arabia.

“I think they would do well to consider human rights concerns more,” Mr Byrne said, when asked if Fifa have ignored human rights issues in recent years.

Mr Byrne said that he believed it was positive that people were raising concerns ahead of the tournament taking place.

I think it is a challenge to Fifa to make sure that every time the World Cup is held, it is in accordance with human rights standards and that everyone is involved.

However, Mr Byrne admitted that his own experience as sports minister shows that the Irish Government, as well as any other government, have very little influence on international sporting bodies.

“Look, the decision is made by Fifa and people can praise or criticise that. If there are concerns around human rights, we will raise them,” Mr Byrne said.

In 2022, concerns were raised repeatedly with host nation Qatar over the working conditions of migrant workers who built key infrastructure for the tournament.

During the World Cup, one Qatari official estimated that the number of migrant worker deaths were between 400 and 500, despite the country previously downplaying the death toll.