UEFA says it has “no information” about compensating Dublin for losing the right to host games for this year’s European Championship, despite the footballing body paying Bilbao €1.3m for losing its games.
Both Dublin and the northern Spanish city lost the right to host four games each for the competition after being unable to guarantee spectators could attend stadia during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bilbao’s city hall yesterday said UEFA agreed to compensate not just with money, but also the commitment that the city’s San Mames Stadium will host a Europa League final and a Women’s Champions League final “in the coming years”.
The city’s mayor Juan Mari Abuerto said on Twitter the money would cover the investments it had made in preparing for Euro 2020.
When asked by Independent.ie about compensation money for Dublin, a UEFA spokesperson said: “We have no information to provide on the matter at this stage.”
Asked whether Dublin city would receive compensation like Bilbao did, a spokesman for Dublin City Council said: "I'm told we weren't guaranteed to get anything for Dalymount. I don't know if you'd call this compensation – but that's what we got."
In April UEFA allocated €500,000 for the development of Dalymount Park to a 6,000 capacity. It should be open for business in 2025.
The redevelopment had been identified as a “legacy project” seven years ago, when Dublin was first named as one of the co-hosts for Euro 2020.
It was mooted that the stadium - open since 1901 but was in need of a complete revamp - could be used as a training complex for one of the teams at the finals.
At the time FAI CEO Jonathan Hill said he was delighted.
“When we won the Euro 2020 bid in partnership with Dublin City Council and the Government seven years ago a fitting legacy project was key and of course a new Dalymount Park, such an iconic Irish football venue, was the chosen project and a fitting one.
“As we enter the centenary year of the FAI this is a great boost to the plans to build a world class facility for football on our of our most inspirational sites in north Dublin.
"I have shared this news with all involved and we thank UEFA for this very significant support for a milestone project.”
Bilbao was supposed to host Group E matches for Spain’s national team, but the high contagion rate of Covid-19 in the northern part of the country made it impossible for fans to be allowed into the matches.
In April, UEFA decided to move the three games from Bilbao to Seville in southern Spain, where local authorities agreed to allow some fans to attend the matches.
At the same time Dublin’s three Group E matches featuring Slovakia, Sweden and Poland were moved from the Aviva Stadium to Saint Petersburg.
A last-16 game scheduled for Dublin was switched to Wembley Stadium in London.