IRISH FOOTBALL FANS who have secured tickets for the four Euro 2021 games that are scheduled to take place in Dublin, will be watching developments in Uefa carefully, after the Bayern Munich chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, said the association was “thinking about” hosting the tournament in one country, rather than 12, as planned.

It is worth stressing that Uefa have consistently said they want to stick to their original plan to play the games in 12 host countries. However, former Bayern and German great, Rummenigge, has suggested there is an alternative plan being considered.

“One must not forget that the idea of this special tournament was born when the coronavirus did not yet exist,” Rummenigge said in an interview with German newspaper, Münchner Merkur.

“At the time [the decision to have 12 host countries for the tournament] was an initiative of the EU Commission, which wanted football to be represented throughout Europe. But I know that the Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin — who is incredibly careful with Covid-19 — is thinking about whether it wouldn’t make more sense . . . to play the tournament in just one country.”

In response to this story, a Uefa spokesman told The London Times: “In agreement with the 12 cities, we are currently working on four scenarios: full stadiums, stadiums between 50 to 100 per cent full and 20 to 30 per cent full, and behind closed doors.”

If the tournament is moved to one country, Uefa will refund fans who have bought tickets for matches. Similarly, they will refund fans if games take place in stadiums with reducde capacities.