Taoiseach Micheál Martin believes that UEFA was 'out of order' in its approach to host cities for this summer's European Championships.

Dublin - which was due to be one of the locations for Euro 2020 - lost its status as a host city last week.

Authorities could not guarantee that fans would be permitted to attend, as per UEFA stipulations.

The matches that were due to take place in Dublin have been moved to St Petersburg and London.

Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Mr Martin said he was disappointed at the governing body's decision to strip Dublin of its hosting rights.

"I thought UEFA were out of order, quite frankly, putting that condition on countries," the Fianna Fáil leader said.

"If you look at what is happening all over Europe in terms of the B117 and in terms of the high incidence in European member state countries, to be putting obligations on countries to force spectators in prematurely, in my view, was a wrong call by the footballing authorities and I never thought it was a realistic proposition if I'm honest."

Other host cities, including London and Glasgow, have given a guarantee that stadiums will be at least 25pc full for fixtures scheduled for their venues.

Addressing the wider issue of supporters attending sporting fixtures in the coming months, Mr Martin said it was important to not think too far ahead.

"It's difficult for people, I understand that," he explained.

"I want to be at a match, there'd be nothing I'd love more than to be at a club championship game at some time in the summer, and that may happen towards the end of the summer and we will look at all those things but we're not going too far ahead of ourselves either."