Tuesday, 16 March 2010

England could play Wales in Swansea

The possibility of England playing Wales in Swansea has increased with Uefa set to decide the fixtures for the 2012 European Championship qualifying campaign.
The five nations drawn in Group G were unable to reach agreement on the fixtures, despite a meeting lasting nearly five hours in Zurich yesterday. Fabio Capello, the England manager, and John Toshack, his Wales counterpart, attended the meeting with representatives from Switzerland, Bulgaria and Montenegro.
Toshack’s prediction that it would be difficult to reach an agreement that would suit every country proved correct. Bulgaria and Montenegro were keen to ensure prime dates for the matches against England, because of the additional revenues that it would generate from television and sponsorship. England and Wales were unable to agree their fixtures.
The countries’ fate will be decided with a random draw at the Uefa Congress in Tel Aviv next week. Uefa’s decision is important because, for example, Wales would prefer to play England at the Millennium Stadium. The venue in Cardiff has already been booked for several dates, notably in October. The qualifying match would then have to be switched to Cardiff City’s new stadium or the Liberty Stadium, in Swansea.
The Football Association of Wales said: “At the Group G Euro 2012 fixtures meeting today the teams failed to reach agreement on a match schedule. All sides needed to be in agreement and this did not happen. Uefa will now make the draw in Tel Aviv, next week at the Uefa Congress.”

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