(London) The British government announced on Friday that it would not fund the renovation of the Casement Park stadium in Belfast, which has been chosen to host matches of Euro 2028 co-organised by the United Kingdom and Ireland.
A new 34,000-seat Casement Park was to be built on the site of the disused Gaelic sports stadium in preparation for the upcoming European Football Championship.
However, controversies and delays have put the project in difficulty, even though it was included in the joint bid selected by UEFA in 2023.
The decision was taken because of the “significant risk” that it would not be “built in time”, Northern Ireland Minister Hilary Benn and Culture Minister Lisa Nandy said in a joint letter.
“Estimated construction costs have increased dramatically from £180m when the Euro 2028 bid was awarded in October 2023 to potentially in excess of £400m, and there is a significant risk that the project will not be built in time for the tournament,” they said.
England are set to provide six of the ten Euro 2028 host stadiums, with Cardiff, Dublin and Glasgow also due to host matches in the tournament.