……Italy, Turkey to host Euro 2032
Europe’s football governing body, UEFA have announced on Tuesday that the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland will co-host Euro 2028, while Italy and Turkey will co-host Euro 2032.
Both proposals were unopposed but required official sanction from European football’s governing body, which was granted at a conference in Switzerland.
Turkey withdrew from the Euro 2028 bidding process last week, opening the way for Britain and Ireland, who abandoned ambitions to bid for the 2030 World Cup in order to focus on organising the European Championship.
FIFA confirmed this week that the 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain, but games will also be held in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay as the football spectacle celebrates its centennial.
Saudi Arabia has since announced preparations to bid for the 2034 World Cup.
Turkey, which has unsuccessfully tried to host every European Championship since 2008, was originally a candidate for both Euro 2028 and Euro 2032.
However, in July, it agreed to join Italy in a bid for the 2032 edition, without indicating whether it would withdraw from the 2028 race.
The last time England hosted a major men’s event was in 1996, when the European Championship had only 16 teams.
It also hosted the final of the 24-team Euro 2020 tournament, which had been postponed by a year owing to the epidemic and was held at venues around Europe, at Wembley.
During the tournament, England and Scotland hosted 12 games.
Six of the planned 2028 locations are in England, including two stadiums in London and others in Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Birmingham.
Matches are also planned for Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, and Cardiff.
Italy hosted Euro 2020 matches in Rome, but has not hosted a tournament on its own since the 1990 World Cup.
In 1968, it held the final stages of the four-team Euro, and in 1980, it hosted the final stages of the eight-team event.
Turkey has never been awarded a major international competition, despite hosting this year’s Champions League final in Istanbul in June.
“The heart of football will beat in Turkey in 2032!” said Turkish Sports Minister Osman Askin Bak on social media in response to the UEFA announcement.
“We are happy to host #EURO2032 with the friendly country Italy. It is an honour to be rewarded for the steps we have taken in the 100th anniversary of our beautiful country, which we have woven together with investments into sport.”
The Turkish Football Federation promised to offer spectators “the ultimate European Championship experience”.
Russia initially declared an interest in hosting either Euro 2028 or 2032 but UEFA later said it would not consider any bid from the Russian Football Union.
That was after Russian clubs and national teams were suspended from all UEFA competitions due to the war in Ukraine.
