PETER Dallas, the managing director of Hampden Park Ltd, last night questioned Murrayfield’s ability to stage Scotland football internationals in future due to rugby’s Autumn Internationals clashing with Nations League games.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) board is set to announce whether they intend to remain at Hampden after their lease runs out following the Euro 2020 finals or move through to Murrayfield at the end of next month.

Dallas admitted the world-renowned Glasgow stadium’s future was dependent on owners Queen’s Park agreeing to sell to the SFA and stressed that he believes it is still very much “in the balance”.

However, he has predicted the governing body would run into problems with scheduling “very quickly” if they decide to take the national team’s games as well as Scottish Cup semi-finals and finals to the Edinburgh venue.

The Scotland rugby team will play South Africa at Murrayfield on Saturday, November 17, this year and then take on Argentina in the same stadium seven days later. Their football counterparts, meanwhile, will play Israel in their final Nations League fixture on Tuesday, November 20.

Dallas feels the close proximity of those matches to each other highlights the sort of difficulties which will arise if the SFA decide to end an association with Hampden that stretches back to 1906.

“The Scottish FA are looking at what could be offered elsewhere,” he said. “That would be a rental scenario. At that point in time, the Scottish FA loses control of when they host games. You then have to look at possible fixture congestion.

“One important aspect they have to consider is retaining control of the games and the calendar of events. If you look at the new Nations League the games are in the last quarter of the year – exactly when the Autumn Internationals take place through in Edinburgh.

“In football now it is not just the match day that you need to use the stadium. You also have match day minus one and match day minus two when the pitch is used by the competing nations to get a feel for the stadium and surface. It is a three day event.

“It used to be the case that the dates of fixtures were negotiated. With the television calendar now sides are just notified that they will be playing team X on a certain date.

“There is a distinct possibility that at some point in the near future, and I am sure it would happen very quickly, there would be a potential fixture clash. A new scenario would then arise? Which sport, rugby or football, gets precedence in terms of the date?

“Both games are televised global events with multinational iconic sponsors. That would be quite a debate to have. And, as I said, it is not just one day either, it is now three days. You have to dress the stadium, you have to get the branding in place.”

Dallas continued: “Even if you even look at the basics, the lines on the pitch, you have issues. If you have a football match and a rugby match within days of each other you can see from a television camera on a high-level platform markings which have been gone over in green. Aesthetically, it doesn’t look the best. That is a basic.

“You then have to look at the playing surface as well, especially at that time of year. Playing rugby on a football surface is one thing, playing football on a rugby surface if there has been a rugby game just before, could be a challenge.”