UEFA removes Bilbao and Dublin as Euro 2020 host cities

The Euro championships trophy at a presentation of Munich as a host city. Munich, Germany, October. 27, 2016
The Euro championships trophy at a presentation of Munich as a host city. Munich, Germany, October. 27, 2016 Copyright AP Photo/Matthias Schrader
Copyright AP Photo/Matthias Schrader
By Alessio Dell'Anna with Associated Press
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European football's governing body announced the games will be moved to Seville, St Petersburg and London.

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UEFA has removed Bilbao and Dublin as host cities for Euro 2020, set to be played this summer, as they could not guarantee having enough fans in stadiums.

European football's governing body announced those games would be moved to Seville, St Petersburg and London.

The changes to the 12-city hosting plan for the European Championships come only seven weeks before the 24-nation tournament kicks off in Rome on June 11.

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, some cities weren't able to confirm they could meet attendance targets set by UEFA.

Munich, which had also been at risk, was given a reprieve, the German soccer federation said in a statement.

The federation said Bavarian state officials ruled a minimum capacity of 14,500 would be “realistic” for Euro 2020 games.

That is just over 20% of stadium capacity in its configuration for the tournament.

Poland, Spain, Sweden and Slovakia were scheduled to play their Group E matches in Spain and Ireland.

UEFA selected Bilbao and Dublin in 2014 but their places were at risk because authorities there could not give guarantees about fans attending amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The three games in Bilbao will move to Seville, at the La Cartuja Stadium, in the southern Andalusia region.

St Petersburg, which was already set to host four games in the tournament, now gets the three Group E games from Dublin.

Dublin's game in the round of 16 was moved to London, giving Wembley Stadium an eighth match. Both semifinals and the final will also be played at Wembley.

The other hosting cities - St. Petersburg, Baku, Budapest, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London and Rome - all said they can guarantee a potential attendance of 25% or above.

Watch an interview with sports journalist Michael Kurn in the video player above, which was recorded before UEFA's latest announcement.

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