‘Embarrassing’: Euro 2022 criticised for game titles at Manchester City’s academy | Women’s Euro 2022

The Iceland intercontinental Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir has branded the use of the Manchester Metropolis Academy Stadium as a venue for the European Championship this summertime as “disrespectful” to women’s soccer.

The stadium, which hosts Manchester Town Women’s games, is the tournament’s smallest ground and will phase 3 group matches, like Iceland’s fixtures with Belgium and Italy in July.

Gunnarsdóttir explained to the Their Pitch podcast: “I’m a tiny bit upset with some of the stadiums that we got. It’s stunning. You are taking part in in England, you have so a lot of stadiums, and we have a teaching floor from City. It is just embarrassing. Women’s soccer currently, they are filling out the stadiums. If you see Barcelona towards Authentic Madrid, we have 95,000 [official attendance was 91,533] looking at the match.

“They are not well prepared for that, that we will market much more tickets than 4,000. It is disrespectful toward women’s soccer at this stage since it is so significantly even larger than persons think. But there will be games in huge stadiums and I’m pretty positive they’re likely to be marketed out.”

Organisers uncovered on Tuesday that eight matches have now bought out, which include each of Iceland’s contests at the Metropolis Academy Stadium. All of England’s team matches are sellouts, with the opening video game towards Austria at Old Trafford on 6 July the most recent to strike capability.

Gunnarsdóttir has urged a rethink. “I do not know what’s likely on in their heads or if they are even next women’s football,” the Lyon midfielder stated. “Because if you would, it is just frequent feeling. Women’s football’s exploding, it’s receiving so a lot improved, and it’s just silly to talk about it due to the fact it does not even make feeling.

“They ought to 100% rethink it, mainly because I imagine you see the response and how rapidly the tickets are going and how well-known it is, they have to reconsider their choice.”