2023-10-10 13:27:47
Two pairs of countries will host the next Euro football tournaments, UEFA decided on Tuesday. As planned, the United Kingdom and Ireland will be the hosts of the 2028 edition, Turkey and Italy those of the 2032 edition. The confirmation of a trend: the grouping of candidates to host events athletes, to reduce costs.
Published on: 10/10/2023 – 3:27 p.m.
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The trend towards joint organization of tournaments is confirmed in the world of football. UEFA announced on Tuesday October 10 that Euro 2028 will be hosted by the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the 2032 edition by Turkey and Italy. They will succeed Germany, which hosts Euro-2024.
Expected, the decision was made official by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin at the headquarters of the European body in Nyon, Switzerland, following a brief closed-door meeting of the executive committee to endorse the two candidacies, each alone in the running. “Together we will create unforgettable editions of this great tournament,” promised the Slovenian leader.
UEFA, a pioneer of joint organizations when it awarded Euro-2000 to the Belgium/Netherlands couple, confirms this dynamic: that of grouping together candidates to host a major sporting event, as the investments required are increasingly repulsive. no more suitors.
The best illustration is the unprecedented agreement announced by Fifa last Wednesday for the 2030 World Cup, with a Morocco-Portugal-Spain organization also planning the first three matches in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – initially candidates alongside Chile.
The five federations of the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland) were also vying for the 2030 World Cup, following England’s unsuccessful attempts to organize those of 2006 and 2018.
The euro cheaper than the world
But, at the start of 2022, they chose to focus on the 2028 edition of the Euro, “the third largest sporting event in the world”, which “offers a similar return on investment” to the world with “a delivery cost well inferior,” they explained.
Because, if the race for the gigantism of the World Cup is in full swing, going from 32 to 48 teams for 104 matches from 2026, the European Championship retains 24 teams (since 2016), for 51 matches spread over 10 stadiums. An event that is twice as concentrated, but which brings together a good number of the best selections in the world and puts the favorites to the test from the group stage.
Read alsoWorld-2030: a historic and controversial edition in Spain, Portugal and Morocco
Already in pole position to win the Euro, the United Kingdom and Ireland no longer even had rivals since Turkey – unsuccessful candidate in each edition since 2008 – threw in the towel for 2028 by betting everything on a joint ticket with Italy in 2032, announced in July.
Three decades following Euro-1996 in England, seven years following Euro-2020 scattered across the continent but concentrated at London’s Wembley Stadium from the semi-finals, the competition will therefore return to British soil.
Racism and authoritarianism
On the stadium side, the list is strong with already legendary venues, from Wembley to the City Stadium in Manchester via the National Stadium in Cardiff and Hampden Park in Glasgow, while a new Casement Park must be built in Belfast in place of the old disused stadium dedicated to Gaelic sports.
“This will be the biggest event ever organized by our two islands working together,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on X.
I am over the moon that Ireland and the UK will co-host EURO 2028. Congratulations to @FAIreland & all involved in winning the bid. It will be the biggest event ever hosted by our two islands working together. Great to be joined by Victoria, Dylan & Eoin from @CastleknockCFC⚽️ pic.twitter.com/IVMe536gPJ
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) October 10, 2023
Italy and Turkey, by choosing to join forces this summer, were also certain to be designated, even if their teaming raises more questions – from the nearly 1,400 km as the crow flies between the two capitals to the reception conditions for foreign supporters and the choice of host cities. Of the twenty stadiums proposed, five per country must be selected by October 2026, UEFA said.
If Italy has already organized the Euro in 1968 and 1980, the travel bans recently taken in Rome for European competitions worry fan organizations, as do the racist incidents which continue to punctuate Serie A matches, in a country otherwise led by the extreme right.
And if Turkey, where “the heart of football will beat in 2032!”, rejoiced on Tuesday, its Minister of Sports, Osman Askin Bak, in a message published on the social network UEFA deplored “the absence of an action plan in the field of human rights” before preferring Germany for Euro 2024. However, this criterion no longer appears in the allocation procedure for 2032, while tens of thousands of opponents of the Erdogan regime remain imprisoned.
With AFP
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