Disappointment gives way to anger

THE initial feeling of disappointment was giving way to growing anger last night for members of the Scotland/Ireland bid for the European Championship finals of 2008.

As they began to piece together the elements of the process that yesterday resulted in the finals being awarded to Austria/Switzerland, the anger stemmed not from the fact Scotland/Ireland failed in their attempt to secure the support of UEFA for their bid for the finals, but from the realisation that a case believed to rank a close second to the winners was not rated by a UEFA committee charged with running the finals tournament.

The furrowed brows of puzzled Scotland/Ireland delegates were gradually tightened by the effects of a growing feeling of frustration as it emerged the 11 members of the National Teams Committee (NTC) of UEFA had not included Scotland/Ireland amongst the four potential hosts they deemed best qualified to stage the finals.