Turkey Confirms EURO 2024 Bid

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has confirmed its intention to bid for hosting rights to EURO 2024, following a prior indication that it would have an interest in the tournament.

Turkey has previously made bids for the Euros in 2008, 2012 and 2016 and had been in contention for the 2020 tournament, which is due to be held in 13 cities across the continent. TFF president Yildirim Demiroren said Turkey will enter its official bid on March 2, with Uefa due to announce all contenders on March 10 ahead of a decision on a host in September 2018. “On this occasion we believe both as a management board and a country that we deserve to get it,” Demiroren said at a meeting to announce the candidacy with Turkey’s Sports Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic.

In April 2014, the TFF elected to withdraw its bid for Euro 2020 hosting rights in favour of concentrating its efforts on landing the 2024 edition of the tournament. The TFF had put forward Istanbul as a candidate for Euro 2020, but later decided it would rather host the entire competition than share it with other cities.

Turkey also recently lost a bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the Japanese capital of Tokyo defeating the Turkish proposition of Istanbul.