UEFA Announces 32 Euro 2020 Bidders

UEFA has confirmed that 32 member countries have officially bid to host matches at the Euro 2020 competition.

In a revamp to the traditional Euro competition, order where one or two countries would host the tournament, medicine 2020 will be played across the continent in 13 different cities.

Spain has put forward the most cities out of all the applicants, here with Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia all possible Euro 2020 destinations.

England (London), France (Lyon), Italy (Rome and Milan), Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Portugal (Lisbon and Porto) are also amongst the bidders, as well as Azerbaijan (Baku), Macedonia (Skopje) and Kazakhstan (Astana).

English FA’s General Secretary Alex Horne said: “UEFA’s ‘EURO for Europe’ in 2020 promises to be a fitting way to recognise 60 years of the UEFA European Championship. 

“We would be delighted for London and Wembley Stadium to be chosen to host either of the two packages available and we look forward to working with UEFA on the forthcoming selection process.”

“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.”

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-finals), and one package for the semi-finals and the final.

All of the 32 confirmed bidders will be able to present up to two bids – one for the standard package and one for the sim-final/final package.

The candidates have the right to change their initial host city selection, but must submit their final bid dossier by 25 April 2014

The appointment of the host cities by the UEFA Executive Committee will take place on 25 September 2014.

The 32 member associations which have stated their interest 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 and Milan), Kazakhstan (Astana), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Poland (Warsaw and Chorzow), Portugal (Lisbon and Porto), Republic of Ireland (Dublin), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (Saint Petersburg), Scotland (Glasgow), Serbia (Belgrade), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia), Sweden (Solna), Switzerland (Basel), Turkey (Istanbul), Ukraine (Kyiv and Donetsk) and Wales (Cardiff).