Gareth Bale: Wales great joins FAW in UK and Ireland bid to host Euro 2028
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Gareth Bale was his country's talisman as they reached the 2016 and 2020 European Championships before he led Wales at their first World Cup since 1958 at Qatar 2022
Gareth Bale will join the Welsh delegation as the UK and Ireland Euro 2028 bidders go to Geneva in October.
Uefa will decide between that bid and one from their Turkish rivals, with the announcement due on Tuesday 10 October.
Welsh football chief Noel Mooney said Bale has been identified as "one of the faces of the bid presentation".
Mooney also said: "Millions of pounds will need to be spent on the Principality Stadium to get it up to scratch."
He added: "Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government are backing the bid and are happy with the projected return on investment... it needs new floodlights and a scoreboard.
"There are also issues over hospitality numbers and the TV compound. But these are all things that will be resolved."
Football Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive Mooney said: "Gareth is very much part of the FAW and what we do."
He added: "Gareth is globally famous. You can get into a taxi in Sydney or Peru and if you mention you are from Wales they will say 'Gareth Bale'. It is an instant reaction.
"When I go home to the west of Ireland the first thing people say to me is, 'how is Gareth Bale?'.
"Gareth is so good for us. We went to him and asked him if he would get involved in the Euro '28 bid and he just said, 'what can I do for Wales?'.
"It was instant - 'how can I help you get the bid over the line?"'
Bale, 34, retired in January 2023 as Wales men's leading goalscorer with 41 and cap holder - 111 - after a career that brought five Champions League titles and three Fifa Club World Cups at Real Madrid.
If successful, the bid would bring Euro 2028 games to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
In England, games are earmarked for Wembley, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Etihad Stadium, Everton's new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, Villa Park and St James' Park.
Casement Park in Belfast, the Dublin Arena in the Republic of Ireland and Hampden Park in Scotland are also on the host venues list.
The Principality Stadium would be renamed the Cardiff National Stadium during the tournament if the UK and Republic bid wins.
Mooney expects Cardiff to be a candidate to host the opening game of the tournament and hopes six games would be held there.
"Six games for Wales has been mentioned before, but it is ultimately up to Uefa to decide on the division of games, qualification from the five host nations and things like that," he said.
He added: "Cardiff hosted a very successful Champions League final in 2017 and Uefa were very happy with it.
"But we feel we can get more out of hosting a series of games than from a standalone match.
"There were 10s of thousands of Spanish and Italian fans in Cardiff for Real Madrid against Juventus, and they all had a great time. But they were gone the next day.
"What the 2016 Euros did for France as a brand, and 2024 will do for Germany, was fantastic.
"The Covid-hit Euros weren't the same and the World Cup in Qatar was a different experience."
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