Euro 2022: Iceland star slams "shocking" and "embarrassing" venue choice | OneFootball

Iceland star Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir has claimed the stadium choices for Euro 2022 are “disrespectful to women’s football”.

Speaking to Their Pitch, Gunnarsdóttir revealed she was disappointed about Iceland’s two group stage matches at Manchester City’s Academy Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,000.

The two matches, against Belgium and Italy respectively, have already sold out. Iceland will also play France at Rotherham’s New York Stadium, which has a 12,000 capacity.

“I am disappointed with the arenas we have been given,” Gunnarsdóttir said. “It’s shocking – we play a tournament in England with several large arenas, and we get to play at a training facility that takes around 5,000 spectators.

“It’s just embarrassing and it’s not the respect we deserve. They haven’t prepared for the fact that we can sell more than 4000, it is disrespectful to women’s football.”

“It would probably have come over 20,000 from Iceland to watch the matches. But family members are struggling to get tickets because they sold out as soon as they dropped.”

Euro 2022 will be played across 10 stadiums in total, each with varying capacities.

Old Trafford is set to host the opening match of the tournament between England and Austria. UEFA has confirmed this encounter has sold out, meaning an impressive crowd of 75,000.

The final will be held at the 90-000 seater Wembley Stadium, while Bramall Lane, St Mary’s Stadium, Falmer Stadium and Stadium MK all have a capacity of around 30,000.

But there are venues set to be used which can only seat a maximum of 17,000 spectators, including Brentford Community Stadium and Leigh Sports Village.

This does appear to be a missed opportunity when considering the rapid rise in popularity of women’s football. For example, 91,553 fans recently attended Camp Nou to watch Barcelona play Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League.

“Women’s football takes two steps in the right direction, but then things like this happen and then you take a step back,” Gunnarsdóttir said.

“But matches will be played in larger arenas that I’m sure will sell out. Women’s football explodes and you start to get the respect you deserve.

“It’s getting better – more money is being pumped in now and it’s going in the right direction. But there are still things that need to improve.”

Gunnarsdóttir, who currently plays for women’s football giants Lyon, has been part of Iceland’s national team since 2007 and is on track for her fourth European Championship.

The midfielder is the only woman to have been named the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year twice, in 2018 and 2020.

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