Northern Ireland will lose hosting rights to games at Euro 2028 after the United Kingdom government announced on Friday that it will withdraw funding for the rebuilding of Casement Park, the stadium selected by UEFA to stage five matches at the tournament, due to construction costs rising to at least £400 million.
UEFA awarded Euro 2028 to a combined UK and Ireland bid last October, with Belfast, the Northern Irish capital, one of nine cities named as venues for the 24-team tournament.
With Windsor Park, the traditional home of Northern Irish football, rejected as a possible venue due to its capacity being too small to host Euro 2028 fixtures, the derelict Casement Park had been selected by the bid organisers on the proviso that it would be rebuilt after being left unused since 2013.
But despite the Republic of Ireland government and the Gaelic Athletic Association both providing funding towards the reconstruction, the UK government has now confirmed that it will not provide financial backing -- a decision that leaves UEFA now needing to move the five Belfast games to venues in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
In a joint letter from Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn and UK Sports Minister Lisa Nandy to Northern Ireland Sports Minister Gordon Lyons, the UK government cited the escalating costs as the reason for pulling out of the project.
"The estimated build costs have risen dramatically -- from £180m when the EURO 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 to potentially over £400m -- and there is a significant risk that it would not be built in time for the tournament," Benn and Nandy said.
"We have therefore, regrettably, decided that it is not appropriate for the UK government to provide funding to seek to build Casement Park in time to host matches at Euro 2028.
"This has been a very difficult decision to make, given our belief in the Euro 2028 partnership, but it is the only way forward in the circumstances."
ESPN has contacted UEFA for comment on the story.