Bizarre reason Anfield is banned from hosting Euro 2028 as UK and Ireland launch joint bid for tournament
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ANFIELD has been ruled out of hosting any games at Euro 2028 - and there's a interesting reason why.
The 10 stadiums that will host matches if the UK and Ireland win the bid have been revealed today.
They include grounds like Wembley, the Etihad, Everton's ground and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Despite Anfield being among the country's most iconic grounds, it was not included in the list.
The bizarre reason is because the pitch is not big enough.
And it means unless the new £500million Everton stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is completed in time, there will be NO matches staged in Liverpool if the five-nation British Isles bid is successful.
Uefa regulations for major tournaments state that pitches must have fixed dimensions of 105m by 68m.
But the Anfield pitch is just 101m long and cannot be extended because of the proximity of the stands behind each goal.
Ten stadia have been put forward - with there believed to be a number on the 'reserve list' should renovations not be done in time.
But FA-led bid officials have informed Liverpool that Anfield is ineligible.
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The Uefa requirements may partially explain why England have not played a home match at Anfield since the 2006 friendly with Uruguay despite the FA continuing to take the national team around the country in recent seasons.
Anfield’s ineligibility puts extra pressure on Everton to complete their planned new stadium.
Foundation work on the proposed 52,888-seater stadium is ongoing and the club confirmed last week it had agreed a fixed fee contract with builders Laing O’Rourke.
Everton are due to move from Goodison, their home since 1892, for the start of the 2024-25 season, three years before the planned tournament.
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But there remains significant doubt over who will fund the project.
Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov, sponsor of the club’s Finch Farm training ground and a close business associate of owner Farhad Moshiri, was placed on the UK, US and EU sanctions list for supporting Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
And if Everton do not have the cash to complete the move in time, that will mean Merseyside will only provide potential training bases for the tournament and not host any matches.