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Topics: England, Euro 2028, UEFA, Football, Champions League
Ben McCrum
England have been told by UEFA that they may be banned from the 2028 Euros, despite hosting the competition.
The UK and Ireland were confirmed as hosts of the 2028 European Championship in October last year, with several stadiums across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland set to hold matches.
While some Euro 2020 matches were held at Wembley stadium, Euro 2028 will be the first time that England has hosted an international football tournament since the 1996 European Championships.
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However, it has now been revealed that UEFA have issued a warning to England telling them that they could be banned from the 2028 competition, despite hosting many of the matches.
The Times report that the Union of European Football Associations have told English ministers that the Three Lions could be banned from Euro 2028 if Prime Minister Keir Starmer moves ahead with plans to introduce a men’s football regulator.
Theodore Theodoridis, general secretary of UEFA issued the warning in a letter to culture secretary Lisa Nandy earlier this month stating that there should be “no government interference in the running of football.”
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Later in the letter, he hits back over plans announced in the King’s Speech to create a regulator to oversee clubs across England’s top five leagues.
Responding to plans, Theodoridis insisted that independence in football is a “fundamental requirement.”
The plans to introduce a watchdog to look over all clubs competing in England were first started in March by the previous British government who wanted to prevent the wealthiest clubs creating another European super league.
The watchdog was never formally introduced by the time that the Conservatives were ousted from government, but the succesive Labour government have committed to continuing with the idea.
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But should they do so, they risk being banned from Euro 2028 and missing out on an opportunity to finally win an international trophy on British soil.
Later in the letter, Theodoridis wrote: “We have specific rules that guard against [state meddling] in order to guarantee the autonomy of sport and fairness of sporting competition; the ultimate sanction for which would be excluding the federation from Uefa and teams from competition.”
Not only would the English national team be banned from the European Championships, but clubs in the UK would also be suspended from competing in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.