European Championship: Uefa to hold 2020 finals across continent

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The 2020 European Championship finals will be held in a number of cities across Europe, Uefa has announced.

It is a change from the usual format, which involved either one or two countries hosting the tournament every four years.

The Football Association has already put forward Wembley as a possible venue for the final.

Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland have also expressed their interest to Uefa about staging matches.

Jonathan Ford, chief executive of the FA of Wales, has previously said his country would want Cardiff to be a "host city".

Following Thursday's announcement by European football's governing body, Ford said the plan was a "fantastic idea" but stressed fans should not have to travel long distances at great expense.

"The idea of hub areas should be very seriously considered," he said. "We don't want fans going from east to west.

"The proximity of say Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast and Dublin is even closer than one end of Ukraine to the other. There's many a situation I can see where you can have group hubs to make it a great fan experience."

A spokesperson for the Football Supporters' Federation said the move was "one which will divide fans".

"When the idea of a pan-European tournament was first proposed our primary concern was that supporters across the continent were properly consulted before anything was set in stone," added the spokesperson.

"The FSF will speak to Football Supporters Europe to see what fans from across the continent make of this move."

Uefa's executive committee took the decision at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino told a press conference: "Some important decisions have been taken.

"Uefa Euro 2020 will be staged across the continent, in various major cities, following a decision taken today. A Euro for Europe follows an initial idea by Uefa president Michel Platini, who described it as 'an idea I feel really passionate about'.

"The response has been extremely positive from all the national associations."

Infantino confirmed that only Turkey, who had had initially bid to host Euro 2020, opposed the decision.

The next European Championship will be staged by France in 2016 and will feature 24 qualifiers, up from 16 in 2012.

Infantino added the bidding process for the host cities would start in March and decisions would be made in the spring of 2014.

Platini, who won the tournament in 1984 with France, says his plan will mean countries avoiding high costs at a time of financial hardship.

Higher than expected costs and building delays caused problems for Euro 2012, which was held jointly by Poland and Ukraine.

"It will be a lot easier from a financial perspective for all the countries," Platini said in June.

"If you need to build airports or 10 stadiums in a country, this would be rather easy because it would be one stadium per host city."

Former FA chief executive Mark Palios told BBC Radio 5 live: "The big downside is fans' travel, both in terms of getting the opportunity to follow your team and knowing where you're going to be based.

"Hopefully they can plan something which takes that into account. Otherwise it's a sensible suggestion by Uefa. It gives everybody a chance to share in it rather than just the larger countries."

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585 comments

  • Comment posted by U12171424, at 16:54 6 Dec 2012

    They should hold it in Qatar.

    On the downside they've got no football stadiums, its stinking hot during the summer, fans can't drink alcohol and they have no major tradition of football.

    But on the plus side they've got loads of money and will be quite happy to put bundles of it in brown envelopes for FIFA officials.

  • Comment posted by AndyNeill, at 16:53 6 Dec 2012

    OK as a one-off to reflect the tournament's anniversary, so long as the games are given to cities that have little chance of ever being part of a host nation in future e.g. Glasgow, Cardiff, Dublin, Copenhagen, Oslo, Budapest etc. If they just give it to the usual suspects like Munich, Paris, Wembley, Milan, Madrid, it will be a waste.

  • Comment posted by DB, at 16:55 6 Dec 2012

    A good idea if they only give it to cities in "smaller" nations (like Wales) that could never host the full tournament. But no to London, Paris, Berlin etc.

  • Comment posted by AG, at 20:01 6 Dec 2012

    Easyjet and Ryanair will be laughing all the way to the bank

  • Comment posted by U14496005, at 16:50 6 Dec 2012

    That'll be cheap for the fans then.

  • Comment posted by Eat_The_Rich, at 18:25 6 Dec 2012

    Its no more ridiculous than awarding a World Cup to Qatar to be fair.

  • Comment posted by SuperHanz, at 17:44 6 Dec 2012

    I think this is a good and bad idea but UEFA need to make sure they do it right, and not go chasing after the money from the bigger/richer countries. This is a great opportunity for the likes of Ireland, Slovakia, Croatia, Estonia and Bulgaria etc to host a tournament and enjoy the revenue and spotlight without having to build new world class stadiums. Don't give to England, France, Germany etc.

  • Comment posted by Ed B, at 16:56 6 Dec 2012

    The Platini-UEFA freak show rumbles on then.

  • Comment posted by ravenheart, at 16:57 6 Dec 2012

    Once again complete disregard shown for fans. Now supporters of any given country have to travel all over to see their team's games instead of being able to take a couple of week's holiday in one place? If money is the motivator, can they really see this system not adversely affecting attendance?

  • Comment posted by Sirius, at 16:58 6 Dec 2012

    What a joke. Yet again UEFA / FIFA dont care about the heart and soul of the game, the fans.

  • Comment posted by UK_Peasant, at 23:11 6 Dec 2012

    The only financially realistic place to watch the Euros is on TV, until SKY get hold of it and kill it like they have killed F1 and boxing.
    The true fans get screwed yet again.

  • Comment posted by U15511657, at 18:54 6 Dec 2012

    This is asking for empty stadiums. 24 teams means less quality or attraction, more miles to travel means less fans per game, higher prices means less local fans and using massive stadiums such as the Nou Camp and Wembley means dead atmosphere. Another nail in the coffin for what used to be international football's most exciting tournament.

  • Comment posted by bitofrealism, at 18:51 6 Dec 2012

    With Europe in austerity this sounds like great news for the fans having to fly all over the place to see their team.

    Sounds like an idea dreamed up in the European parliament.

  • Comment posted by conradk, at 16:55 6 Dec 2012

    Wow, going to be a total disaster, how can you expect fans to travel thousands of miles bak and forth to watch matches all over Europe? Who the hell do they think will have the time and money to do that? Platini you are such a (insert word or words of choice).

  • Comment posted by Bisquits And Tea, at 12:06 7 Dec 2012

    I think it's a terrible idea
    There are plenty of countries with plenty of stadiums already suitable to host a tournament - they don't have to give it to a host who needs to build everything from scratch each time. Playing all over Europe is an insult to fans and removes the special atmosphere created by host nations
    If it's going to be a short-term event every 4 years, it needs the focus of a host

  • Comment posted by grahame, at 18:42 6 Dec 2012

    Nothing more than a money making exercise as demand will far exceed supply hence inflated prices. Obviously, not aimed at the ordinary working fan, but since when has UEFA been bothered about that.
    Some carbon footprint will be left behind as I dont see how it could possibly be carbon neutral

  • Comment posted by Mark L, at 09:13 7 Dec 2012

    isn't this simply UEFA trying to avoid the fact that only 3 or 4 countries are capable of hosting such an event without making large scale changes to their stadiums, but UEFA want someone other than the Big Guns to host it? The gathering of all the teams / countries in one place is what makes qualifying so special. But when was the last time football was about football on not about money?

  • Comment posted by BaggiosPonytail, at 16:55 6 Dec 2012

    Oh dear. Platini seems to be competing with Blatter for the title of biggest muppet in football.

    What next? Euro 2024 - World Tour. Venues to include Tokyo, LA and Sydney.

  • Comment posted by U15530299, at 11:20 7 Dec 2012

    There will be no focus on 1 country - each country itself has different cultures in each region
    Different policing laws (Ukraine / Poland permit drinking in your seat - England doesn't)

    I also find it ironic that BBC say distances Euro 2012 were too big. Well if the train from Kiev to Donetsk was too much I dread to think what they'l make of a game in St Petersburg on Monday and Dublin on Friday

  • Comment posted by Football_understand, at 23:24 6 Dec 2012

    How does this work with qualification then, i presume the hosting nations would still have to qualify? 24 teams, 13 citys getting used, 13 nations, 13 automatic qualifiers, this will cause an uproar. could be an exciting prospect though, surely though they need to base a team in one city, you cant expect a nation to fly around europe to play...and the fans to follow, financially a no no

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