The joint Irish and Scottish bid to host the 2008 European Soccer Championships has been dealt a huge blow, after GAA President Sean McCague today reiterated that the use of Croke Park is not on the agenda for his association’s forthcoming Special Congress in October.
Sports other than gaelic games are currently banned from the GAA’s headquarters, but the Euro 2008 bid organisers had been hoping that this rule might be changed to boost their chances of staging the UEFA event. However, changes to GAA rules can only be made by Congress, and, if McCague’s latest comments prove accurate, the next time the issue could be addressed would be at the next Congress in the Spring of 2003.
It therefore seems highly unlikely that the GAA will grant the 2008 bid permission to incorporate the Drumcondra ground in their next crucial submission to UEFA in December.
Filed by James Boylan.
