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With the next European Championships still two years away, and not even a single ball for said tournament has been kicked, the race to host Euro 2020 has already begun. However, the tournament in 2020 will have one crucial difference compared to the previous editions, and that is the fact that the tournament will be staged across multiple cities in Europe, instead of a single or two countries hosting the whole tournament.
According to report from Sky Sports, England has already submitted their bid to be one of the host cities for Euro 2020, proposing Wembley to host matches for the tournament. According to FA general secretary, Alex Horne:
"We are bidding for either of the two packages available, and with our recent experience of hosting two UEFA Champions League finals in the last four years we believe that the Wembley Stadium and London represent a strong bid for UEFA to consider to mark the tournament's 60th anniversary".
"We recognize UEFA is considering many strong bids from a number of candidate cities and we welcome the opportunity to put forward our bid".
Certainly it is not a surprise to see The FA proposing Wembley to host matches for Euro 2020, after all the stadium had been built for a whopping £757m and this will represent a golden opportunity to maximize revenue, especially with the exposure that a European Championship tournament brings, which is probably second only to the World Cup, in terms of international football tournaments.
Other countries that are launching their bids is Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Wales have put forward the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff to host group stage matches and possibly a knockout round match, which excites Gareth bale as it will give him the chance to play in front of his hometown crowd. Meanwhile, Ireland have proposed Dublin as a host city, while Scotland proposed for Hampden Park in Glasgow.
UEFA will decide the 13 host cities on September 19th in Geneva, however keep in mind that even if The FA is successful with its bid, England still need to navigate through the qualifier in order to participate in the tournament, with the UEFA stating that there is no automatic qualification for the host nations. So you might want to keep your party hat and trumpets in your cupboard on September 19th.
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