The Scottish Football Association are eager to step into the breach if Poland and Ukraine are stripped of the 2012 European Championship finals. Uefa yesterday warned the Polish government their interference in the country's football association could threaten their hosting of the tournament.

The Polish football federation was suspended on Monday for allegedly failing to address corruption, and the government have appointed an administrator to run the organisation.

But Uefa and Fifa say they will not recognise the administrator — both take a firm line that there should be no political interference in national associations.

It is the latest problem to hit Poland and Ukraine, who were last week told they must speed up their preparations for the event and meet several conditions.

The SFA are monitoring the situation closely.

"Our position is straightforward," said SFA chief executive Gordon Smith in The Scotsman. "If, in the event of it being taken away from Poland and Ukraine, it was opened to bids, then we would seek to establish if a bid from us would be considered by Uefa.

"If the response was positive then we would undertake a feasibility study along with the Scottish government to decide if we would bid."

Should Poland and Ukraine be stripped of the event and a fresh bidding process begin, the 2012 finals would be realistically Scotland's last chance to host the tournament.

Smith's campaign to have the the event expanded from 16 to 24 teams was successful last week.

The move increases Scotland's chances of qualifying for the finals, but the country lacks the infrastructure to host a 24-team tournament and would be forced to consider a joint bid in future.