Russia's shock approach to host Euro 2028 has been booted out by UEFA.
And that gives the joint effort from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland a massive boost as the five-association bid loses a rival.
But they won't be unopposed with Turkey still in play as they dream of hosting the Championship in either 2028 or 2032.
Russia shocked European football with their brazen attempt to host as they confirmed they were up for taking on the tournament just weeks into the brutal invasion of Ukraine.
But now, on the same day their clubs have been told they'll remain locked out of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League next season, the continent's ruling body for football also insists their bid for the Euros is ineligible.
A statement from UEFA read: "The UEFA Executive Committee declared the bid submitted by the Football Union of Russia (FUR) to host the UEFA EURO 2028 or the UEFA EURO 2032 as not eligible, in accordance with Article 16.02 of the Bid Regulations UEFA Finals and Final Phases which states that 'each bidder shall ensure that it does not act in a manner that could bring UEFA, the UEFA final or UEFA final phase, any other bidder (or any employee, officer or representative of any of the foregoing), the bidding procedure or European football into disrepute.'
"Moreover, 'the automatic qualification of the host team(s) shall be guaranteed (…) for a single host (…)'.
"Therefore, given the uncertainty as to when the suspension will be lifted, the acceptance of a bid from the FUR would also go against the decision of the UEFA Executive Committee of 28 February 2022, suspending all Russian representative teams and clubs from participating in UEFA competition matches until further notice, if an association, whose teams are currently suspended from participating in any UEFA competition would be allowed to bid for a tournament to be hosted on its territory.
"The UEFA Executive Committee will remain on standby to convene further meetings to reassess the legal and factual situation as it evolves and adopt further decisions as necessary."
