ADVERTISEMENTThirty-two national football associations have declared their interest in hosting matches at the 2020 UEFA European Championship, according to the sport’s ruling body in Europe.
The tournament will be staged in 13 cities across Europe and the matches will be split into 13 different packages, with 12 standard packages, including three group matches and one knockout round (round of 16 or quarter-final) and one package for the semi-finals and the final, following a decision by UEFA’s Executive Committee.
The 32 member associations that have stated their interest, together with their proposed provisional host cities, are:
Armenia (Yerevan), Azerbaijan (Baku), Belarus (Minsk), Belgium (Brussels), Bulgaria (Sofia), Croatia (Zagreb), Czech Republic (Prague), Denmark (Copenhagen), England (London), Finland (Helsinki), France (Lyon), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Skopje), Germany (Munich), Greece (Athens), Hungary (Budapest), Israel (Jerusalem), Italy (Rome, Milan), Kazakhstan (Astana), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Poland (Warsaw, Chorzow), Portugal (Lisbon, Porto), Republic of Ireland (Dublin), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (St Petersburg), Scotland (Glasgow), Serbia (Belgrade), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia), Sweden (Solna), Switzerland (Basel), Turkey (Istanbul), Ukraine (Kyiv, Donetsk) and Wales (Cardiff).
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Each one of the 32 associations will be allowed to present one bid for the standard package and one for the semi-finals and final package. Thus, each national association can present the same city or two different cities but there will be a maximum of one venue appointed per country.
The candidates have the right to change their initial host city selection, but must submit their final bid dossier by 25 April 2014.
“We are extremely proud to see the huge interest in the bidding process, with more than half of our member associations willing to host matches at UEFA EURO 2020,” said UEFA President Michel Platini. “The finals will be a great celebration of football across the European continent, and the 60th anniversary edition will be truly special, by really coming to the doorstep of all football fans.”