IFA disappointed but accepts Casement Park decision - Nelson

Patrick Nelson has been the IFA's chief executive since 2009

Irish Football Association chief executive Patrick Nelson says he is "disappointed" that Northern Ireland will not host matches at Euro 2028.

The UK government announced on Friday that it would not provide funding to redevelop Casement Park for the tournament, stating that costs had "risen dramatically" to more than £400m.

With Windsor Park's capacity well below European governing body Uefa's requirement to host games at the next European Championship, Nelson confirmed that no matches would be held in Belfast following the decision that Casement Park would not be constructed in time for the tournament.

"We found out five minutes before the rest of the world, so we didn't have a huge amount of time to react to it," Nelson told BBC Sport NI.

"We do accept that decision, we are very disappointed by it."

At a meeting of the IFA Council on Monday night, Nelson explained that even if they were to redraw Windsor Park's seating plan, only a capacity of 21,000 was possible without altering the stadium's footprint, and even then that would not be the true number of available seats given the likes of camera positions.

While he said talks were planned with Uefa this week regarding what role Northern Ireland could still play in the tournament, he added it could not be expected that the governing body would relax their requirements even under these circumstances.

Casement Park, which has been derelict since 2013, was the only stadium in Northern Ireland included in the UK and Ireland's successful bid to host Euro 2028.

The Irish FA had backed the plans to host matches at the home of gaelic games in Belfast because of the limited capacity at Windsor Park.

However, the project has been controversial with numerous legal, safety and financial challenges delaying any construction work taking place.

Nelson defended the decision to back Casement Park and said the IFA had showed "huge ambition for our country to bring part of the world's third-biggest sporting tournament here to Northern Ireland", adding "Unfortunately, that won't be happening now."

When later questioned at the council meeting over whether those involved would consider their own roles in the wake of the setback, Nelson reiterated that Casement Park was the only way Northern Ireland could have staged Euros fixtures and that he would not apologise for the ambition to bring the tournament to the country.

Host nations for major football tournaments traditionally qualify automatically for the finals. However, given five nations were set to host Euro 2028, there had been uncertainty over how England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would be eligible.

Friday's decision over Casement Park has only added to that uncertainty, and Nelson said it would be Uefa's decision.

"I guess the only thing I can say at this point is that Northern Ireland will not be hosting games," said Nelson, who added the IFA would be "relentless" in continuing to grow the sport across Northern Ireland.

"We definitely would hope to be part of the tournament in a playing capacity. We hope that every single time. That will be our aim.

"It is a little bit early to speak about what other parts of the tournament we can contribute to at this point.

"You can rest assured that we will be talking to all of the relevant partners to maximise what we can for Northern Ireland."

When asked how much Northern Ireland's and the IFA's reputation will be hit by the saga surrounding Casement Park, Nelson said that the association was "well respected" within Uefa.

"Uefa has worked with us all the way through this bid," he added.

"I think they will understand the position we are in. They will understand it is a government decision and, like us, they accept that in a democratic world governments make decisions."