England will consider a bid to host Euro 2028, but "will not renege on a gentleman’s agreement to stay out of the contest to host the tournament in 2024," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. FA Chair Greg Clarke admitted that it would be “a big ask” for England to bid for '24 given that Wembley Stadium is hosting the semifinals and final of Euro 2020, which is being held in 13 cities across the continent. The FA also "made a gentleman’s agreement not to compete against Germany" for Euro 2024 -- a deal struck when the German FA withdrew Berlin from the contest to stage the '20 final, "leaving the way clear for Wembley." England "broke a similar agreement not to bid against Germany for the 2006 World Cup," but FA sources said that it "will not renege on this deal." Clarke: "It would be a big ask to get Euro 2024 four years after hosting the final in 2020. Certainly later on in the decade, we are reaching out to our friends in UEFA, building relationships and an ability to bid if we consider it appropriate" (LONDON TIMES, 9/22). REUTERS' Nivedita Shankar reported Clarke also "sounded a note of caution," citing England's failed bid for the 2018 World Cup, which did not progress past the first round of voting. He said, "We have reviewed this a number of times and the board have decided we will look at bids on a case-by-case basis. The last (World Cup bid) cost us 18 million pounds and we had no chance of winning (REUTERS, 9/22).
BREXIT WOES: In London, Owen Gibson reported the FA has "insisted Brexit will not derail its plans to hold the final stages of Euro 2020 at Wembley." FA CEO Martin Glenn said that "any issues with the terms of the government guarantees required or conditions of entry for overseas visitors would be ironed out so that fans could travel to the semifinal and final as freely as possible." Glenn: "You saw the hashtag ‘London is Open.’ That’s the mayor’s initiative to show that London is open for business and football is a big part of it. We want as many people to come in as unfettered a way as possible so if that was an issue I’m sure we’d deal with it" (GUARDIAN, 9/21).
