Dublin’s Aviva stadium has been stopped from staging four of this summer’s Euro 2020 football matches due to coronavirus concerns.

Wembley Stadium will now stage one of the matches – a last-16 clash – and St Petersburg will host the others.

Catherine Martin – Ireland’s minister for tourism, culture, arts, Gaeltacht, sport and media – said she had been “hopeful” of hosting a “fantastic tournament” at the championships in June.

“However,” she said, “despite our commitment to hosting the games, the public health situation has meant that we were not able to give UEFA the assurances they required earlier this month in relation to guaranteeing minimum spectator attendance levels at Euro 2020 in Dublin.”

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The decision means Wembley will now host a total of eight matches – three group games, two last-16 ties, both semis, and the final.

Four games due to be played in Bilbao, Spain, have also been switched – to Seville.

Fans who had tickets for the Dublin fixtures have been reassured they will be given refunds.

UEFA promised those ticketholders they would be given priority access to seats in the reassigned venues.

A UEFA spokesperson said: “UEFA would like to thank the Football Association of Ireland and its dedicated staff for their excellent collaboration and hard work.”

The 16th UEFA European Championship runs from 11 June to 11 July.

Out of the original 12 host cities, 10 across the continent remain selected as venues, with Dublin and Bilbao dropped, and Seville added.

Euro 2020 was originally scheduled to take place between 12 June and 12 July last year, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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