Ireland-Scotland bid to host Euro 2008 tournament fails

Ireland and Scotland have failed spectacularly in their bid to co-host the European football championship in 2008, with UEFA not even shortlisting the Celtic bid to the final three candidates.

There is some debate in Geneva this evening about where the bid was placed, but it is certain that the final shortlist contained Hungary, the joint bid from Greece and Turkey and the eventual winners Switzerland and Austria.

Earlier reports had claimed the decision had come down to a head-to-head between the Ireland-Scotland bid and the Switzerland-Austria campaign but it has since emerged that it was Hungary who were second best with the Celtic effort enduring an astounding demise.

Also surprisingly omitted from the shortlist forwarded to the UEFA executive committee was the Nordic bid - comprising Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland - another of the early favourites to host Europe's most prestigious football tournament.

Russia and Bosnia/Croatia were the other two candidates eliminated after the first vote.

But while UEFA's decision may have hurt to Celtic delegation, ultimately it was only the lack of any tangible support that came as a real surprise.

Although the uncertainty over the stadia in Ireland may not have been the only issue to cost the Celtic bid the championships, it was certainly noticed by UEFA top brass desperate to avoid the stadium problems that have plagued Portugal's preparation for the 2004 showpiece.

It was the National Teams Committee who recommended the bids to go forward to the final round of voting, the same committee who conducted the site inspections in Ireland and Scotland.

The Press Association claims an unnamed member of the National Teams Committee has said the Celtic bid failed to progress on three counts, the most significant of which was the stadium issue."The first was the concentration of too many stadia in only three cities. The second was the perceived lack of political unity for the Irish Government and the third was the unresolved question of which stadiums would be used in Dublin."Other bids had the stadium question completely resolved. The Scotland/Ireland bid did not."Furthermore, the successful bid is understood to have had the backing of a Michel Platini-led group of four before the presentations were even made and amid the furious lobbying and politicking that is the hallmark of these votes, the Celtic bid was always considered an also ran.

Speaking from Geneva, FAI President Mr Milo Corcoran said: "We're obviously extremely disappointed at not being successful. But there were a lot of good bids in there, we felt we gave it our best shot and there's not much more we can do.

"We've learned a lot from the exercise and have certainly enjoyed working with our colleagues from Scotland," he said.

Mr David Taylor, chairman of the SFA, echoed Mr Corcoran's sentiments and paid tribute to what he described as a top-rate campaign from the successful bid.

"We're clearly very disappointed with the outcome but we extend our congratulations to an excellent bid and an excellent campaign presented by Austria and Switzerland," he said.