Scotland/Ireland bid is unsuccessful

Scotland and Ireland were today unsuccessful in their bid to jointly host the Euro 2008 football championships.

European football’s ruling body UEFA announced that favourites Austria and Switzerland had clinched the tournament.

The Scots-Irish bid had been given a strong chance and leaders of the joint bid had hoped last-minute lobbying of UEFA members backed by a powerful presentation could have been enough to swing the vote towards the Celtic countries.

Simon Lyons, marketing director of the Scotland-Ireland bid said: "It was a fair fight but Austria and Switzerland were always thought to be favourites and in this case that has turned out to be true.

"We are very disappointed of course, but we did our best and we wish them good luck."