Euro 2008 hopes suffer blow

Only gaelic games can be played at Croke Park

Hopes of Scotland and Ireland hosting the 2008 European Championships have been dealt a severe blow following the overwhelming defeat of a motion at the Gaelic Athletics Association's annual meeting.

The Scottish and Irish football associations had indicated to Uefa that they would be putting forward a joint bid to host the tournament.

But a motion to allow "foreign" sports to be played at the GAA's Croke Park was voted down by 197-106 in Ireland on Saturday, a larger defeat than when the subject was last raised.

And, although the Scottish Executive insist that the bid has not been dealt a killer blow, it leaves Ireland struggling to provide the two major stadia required for their end of the bid.

The bid is still on course

Scottish Executive spokesman

A Scottish Executive spokesman told BBC Scotland: "The Irish agreed to provide two stadia.

"These were never identified and that was not necessary to meet the conditions of the bid.

"The bid is still on course."

Their other options are a renovated Lansdowne Road and a purpose-built stadium on the outskirts of Dublin.

The latter is a political hot potato in Ireland, with projected costs of up to £800m causing opposition politicians in the country to baulk at the idea.

This state of flux in Ireland leaves any joint Scottish-Irish bid foundering, with Scotland unable to provide the necessary eight stadia on its own.

Upgrade Lansdowne Road

Rival proposals, such as the Austria-Switzerland joint bid and the Nordic entry (Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway), are already at an advanced stage, leaving Scotland and Ireland with little hope of success.

The GAA appear likely to return to the issue at a special congress in October.

But the joint bid must submit their proposals before then and could already be dead in the water before Saturday's decision can be overturned.

The loss of Croke Park as an option could boost the Irish government's argument for the need of a national stadium - the so-called "Bertie's Bowl" - in May's general elections.

However, the Irish would then also have to endure the added cost of upgrading Lansdowne Road to progress the Euro 2008 bid.