The Scottish Football Association is eager to step into the breach if Poland and Ukraine are stripped of the 2012 European Championship finals. Uefa have warned the Polish government their interference in the country's football association could threaten their hosting of the tournament. The Polish football federation was suspended on Monday for allegedly failing to address corruption, and the government have appointed an administrator to run the organisation.
But Uefa and Fifa say they will not recognise the administrator - both take a firm line that there should be no political interference in national associations. It is the latest problem to hit Poland and Ukraine, who were last week told they must speed up their preparations for the event and meet several conditions. The SFA are monitoring the situation closely. "Our position is straightforward," SFA chief executive Gordon Smith told The Scotsman. "If, in the event of it being taken away from Poland and Ukraine, it was opened to bids, then we would seek to establish if a bid from us would be considered by Uefa.
"If the response was positive then we would undertake a feasibility study along with the Scottish government to decide if we would bid." Fifa and Uefa will now work together to decide on the next steps and the matter will be brought up at the next Fifa executive committee meeting in Zurich on Oct 23. William Gaillard, Uefa communications director, said: "We are hoping we will be solving the problems before the end of October so it will not affect 2012."
* PA Sport
