UEFA & FA rule out possibility of England solely hosting Euro 2020

UEFA and the FA have both ruled out England being the sole hosts of the rescheduled European Championship this summer.

The tournament is currently set to take place across 12 host countries for the first time ever, with the final at Wembley in London, but due to the coronavirus pandemic many have questioned whether this will be possible.

Earlier this week Boris Johnson said that England would be prepared to host more Euro 2020 matches if required, fuelling reports that the country could end up hosting the entire thing.

However, in a statement to the The Times, UEFA have strongly rejected this possibility.

"Uefa is committed to holding Euro 2020 across 12 European cities, according to the schedule agreed last summer," a spokesman said. "There are no other plans being pursued."

This sentiment was backed up by an FA insider contacted by the newspaper, who said that hosting Euro 2020 would be 'logistically very difficult', as the start of the tournament is a matter of months away.

Cooperation with Premier League clubs for the use of their stadiums would be required and the governing body see it as far too late to begin these negotiations. Additionally, many top-flight sides are keen to re-lay their pitches this summer, following the extremely short pre-season this term.

Logistical problems were also pointed out by a senior UEFA source. These include the fact that training grounds, hotels and travel plans have already been mapped out for the 24 teams involved in the tournament. Elsewhere, there is the issue of sponsorship deals, some of which could be violated if there was a change of host country.

Although it now seems unlikely that England will host this summer's action, there is still hope of 'football coming home' for the 2030 World Cup, with the UK government indicating that they are keen to mount a British Isles bid for the tournament.