Villa defender Tyrone Mings named on Euro 2028 board of directors
Villa defender Tyrone Mings named on Euro 2028 board of directors
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings and teammates practice during a training session at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, Birmingham, England, Monday March 3, 2025, one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against Club Brugge. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings, center left, and Morgan Rogers during a training session before their Champions League soccer match against Club Brugge on Wednesday, at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, Birmingham, England, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Robin Olsen punches the ball clear as Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings, left, go for the ball and Brentford’s Nathan Collins during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Aston Villa at the Gtech Community stadium in London, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings and teammates practice during a training session at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, Birmingham, England, Monday March 3, 2025, one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against Club Brugge. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings and teammates practice during a training session at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, Birmingham, England, Monday March 3, 2025, one day ahead of their Champions League soccer match against Club Brugge. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings, center left, and Morgan Rogers during a training session before their Champions League soccer match against Club Brugge on Wednesday, at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, Birmingham, England, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings, center left, and Morgan Rogers during a training session before their Champions League soccer match against Club Brugge on Wednesday, at Bodymoor Heath Training Ground, Birmingham, England, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)
Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Robin Olsen punches the ball clear as Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings, left, go for the ball and Brentford’s Nathan Collins during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Aston Villa at the Gtech Community stadium in London, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Robin Olsen punches the ball clear as Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings, left, go for the ball and Brentford’s Nathan Collins during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Aston Villa at the Gtech Community stadium in London, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings was named on Thursday on the board of directors for the European Championship in Britain and Ireland in 2028.
The 32-year-old Mings is the only player among the three independent non-executive directors helping to organize the tournament.
Mings has played for Villa since 2019 and has made 18 appearances for England, for which he was part of the squad at the 2021 tournament.
He has missed large chunks of the past two seasons because of injuries and will be 35 when Euro 2028 takes place, likely meaning he won’t be involved in the England squad then.
Confirmation of Mings’ involvement came in the announcement of the company — officially named “UK & Ireland 2028 Limited” — tasked with delivering Euro 2028. English Football Association chair Debbie Hewitt will also chair the Euro 2028 board.
A tournament anchored in England with modern stadiums generating huge matchday revenues was a safe choice for UEFA eyeing its bottom line after the high-maintenance, low-revenue Euro 2021 that was staged during the pandemic in half-empty venues across 11 countries.
UEFA cash reserves after the pandemic dropped to 360 million euros in its most recent financial report, and Euro 2028 is set to lift the number back above UEFA’s target of 500 million euros.
The men’s Euros, held every four years, is the foundation of UEFA’s finances and funds development payments to its members.
Everton’s new waterfront stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is set to open for the start of next season, replacing the club’s long-time home of Goodison Park, and was included in the list of venues hosting Euro 2028 matches announced in April 2023. Bramley-Moore Dock is currently staging test events.
Casement Park, a derelict stadium in Belfast, was also on the initial list but has since been dropped, with the British government unable to commit to providing the funding to redevelop it in time. UEFA says it hasn’t yet decided where to reallocate the games that would have been in Belfast.
___
AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer