Northern Ireland will not be classified as host nation for the Euro 2028 finals and will miss out on a backdoor route to qualification, says the chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland.
UEFA has not yet formally outlined the qualification procedure for the tournament, which will be held in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but it is believed that all co-hosts will compete in the qualifying group stage, with at least two qualifying places remaining. reserve for nations that do not qualify by merit.
FAI chief executive David Courell says that would not include Northern Ireland, who would also not be part of any potential playoff series involving the hosts as they are no longer considered a host nation after elimination of Casement Park as the host stadium.
Those play-offs could involve anyone from England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland who do not automatically qualify for the tournament through the group stage.
Northern Ireland would therefore have to qualify through the normal qualification process.
“To be clear, Northern Ireland will not qualify for an automatic place if it is not a host nation,” FAI chief executive Courell said at a press conference in Dublin on Tuesday.
“We are holding talks with UEFA, but the working assumption is all of us [the UK and Ireland host nations] “We will go through qualification and if we fail to qualify on merit, then there will be automatic reserve places, but that has not yet been ratified by UEFA,” he added.
When contacted by BBC Sport NI, a spokesperson for the Irish Football Association confirmed the position conveyed in the FAI briefing.
Casement Park in Belfast had initially been named as one of the venues for Euro 2028, but plans to redevelop the stadium in time for the final were halted in September.
The UK government said the estimated cost of rebuilding the stadium had “risen dramatically” to more than £400m.
He said he would not provide funding to refurbish the stadium in time for the tournament, adding there was a “significant risk” it would not be built in time.
