Andorra insist on tiny stage for England's return tie

Football Association officials have been shocked by Andorra's insistence that the Euro 2008 match against England next March should be played at their tiny national stadium, which has a capacity of only 1,299. That would mean England supporters receiving barely 150 tickets, leading to serious security worries.

It had been assumed that the game, like all Andorra's most important matches, would be staged at Barcelona's mini-Estadi, next to the Nou Camp, which can hold 16,000. But at the opening group match of the campaign at Old Trafford last weekend, Andorra proposed hosting what will be the biggest game in their history in the capital city, Andorra La Vella.

A senior FA official has described their stance as "posturing", but it may now take an intervention by Uefa - or a favourable financial deal - to bring about a change of heart.

England's double-header next spring is proving an awkward one, as the other fixture, four days earlier on 24 March, is away to Israel, who are currently banned from playing in their own country because of the war with Lebanon. Last Wednesday their "home" game against Andorra had to be moved to Nijmegen in Holland, where a tiny crowd saw them win 4-1.

Uefa will reconsider the ban at a meeting on Thursday and Israel's coach, Dror Kashtan, is optimistic that it will be overturned in time for the game with Croatia in November, claiming that since the ceasefire brokered by the United Nations last month "life is comfortable and calm in Israel".

Andorra's dismal performance in Manchester and results such as Germany's 13-0 victory away to San Marino in midweek - a European Championship record - will lead to serious discussion by Uefa about a pre-qualifying tournament involving the weakest nations.

There is a growing feeling that those countries would be better served playing matches among themselves, and that there are now too many teams involved in the qualifying groups.

Geoff Thompson, the FA's chairman and a Uefa vice-president, told Sportsweek after England's win in Macedonia: "It's well worth looking into, as long as the smaller countries are not financially disadvantaged." One method of compensation could be for the bigger countries to play one friendly match each against a team knocked out in the pre-qualifying rounds.