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giblet
GET A LIFE!!! |
    
Euro 2008 bid may go down to one vote
By Stephen McGowan
Scotland's joint bid for Euro 2008 could stand or fall on the back of a single UEFA vote according to a secret report prepared by the Celtic campaign project team.
An election to select the 14 UEFA bigwigs who will decide the ultimate destination of the Finals will take place in Stockholm next month.
Current projections, prepared by Scottish bid officials, warn of an Austria -Switzerland triumph by as little as one vote when judgment day arrives in nine months' time.
The final identity of the UEFA committee remains unclear but it is understood that 11 of the existing panel will be reelected - with just three places still up in the air.
Damagingly, the strongest advocate of a Celtic bid, Ireland's UEFA representative Des Casey, stands down from the committee next month. However, educated projections still hand the Scotland and Ireland axis a fighting chance of capturing the championships if on-going political and stadium in-fighting can be overcome in the Republic.
Bid marketing director Simon Lyons admitted that second guessing of the likely UEFA power-brokers has already begun: 'Austria and Switzerland believe they will win and that the Scotland and Ireland bid will be second - but we believe it is very tight.
'You have to remember that there are nine months to go until a decision is reached and a lot can change in that time.
'Of the last seven World Cup bidding processes, five of the favourites have lost out when it came to the final crunch, so there's no question of us letting up.'
The election of the UEFA committee for 2008 will take place on April 25 in Sweden, with Lyons already preparing the lobbying process which could swing influential votes in Scotland and Ireland's direction.
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"A huge Scotsman has been stood completely still, holding a football and a constant supply of two bottles of beer, staring into the square for , according to witnesses, two hours."
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Total Posts: 272 | Joined Feb. 2002 | Posted on: 8:41 pm on Mar. 14, 2002 | IP
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