Wednesday is the deadline for member associations to show interest in hosting the 2028 or 2032 European Championships. It is already clear who wants which tournament and who are the favorites.

In September 2023, UEFA announced the host nations of the two European Championship tournaments, 2028 and 2032, and in December 2021. The deadline for national associations to show interest in one of the two tournaments is Wednesday (March 23, 2022) at 6 p.m.

EM 2028: British-Irish bid as clear favorite

There were many parties interested in EM 2028, but now only one obvious favorite remains.

Joint application of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland He is widely regarded as the winner of the 2028 tournament award. Cup.

All other interested parties are more or less out of competition:

If five countries are assigned to the tournament, they must all qualify. The reason: “The automatic qualification of the host team (s) can only be guaranteed by a single host or a maximum of two joint host associations,” UEFA wrote in a call to associations applying. “Since there are more than two joint host associations, it is not possible to guarantee the automatic eligibility of all the host teams.”

EM 2032: Italy is currently the lone candidate

Currently, only one country is applying for EM 2032.

Italy EURO withdraws interest on 2028 in favor of 2032 tournament. In this way, FIGC avoided a favorable bid from the United Kingdom and Ireland, while at the same time taking the time to upgrade the infrastructure. “It has a big time window,” FIGC announced. “Italy needs to invest,” said UEFA President Alexander Seferin. “No new stadiums have been built in years, and a few rebuilt stadiums are small.”

With the exception of Italy, no other application has been mentioned yet – unexpected performances of interest are still possible and conceivable – for both tournaments. The PDF form for an application can still be accessed on the UEFA website.

Decision about hosting in the fall or before 2023

This procedure is designed by UEFA as follows:

This process may be shortened if there is only one application per tournament. The next meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee will be held on April 7 or 8.

Required: Ten large stadiums and one tournament for 32 teams

According to UEFA, a tournament requires ten stadiums, one with at least 60,000 seats and one or two with at least 50,000 seats. Four stadiums should have 40,000 seats, three more 30,000.

UEFA writes in a call for applications that the 2028 and 2032 tournaments are based on 24 teams with 51 games. A key sentence: “Information about dates, teams and number of games is primary, so it may change.” It is by no means unlikely that EM 2024 in Germany will be the last of the 24 teams for the time being. UEFA is considering expanding the tournament to 32 teams.

After EM 2021, there were several media reports that UEFA was considering expanding EM from 24 to 32 teams. This will take advantage of the fact that you no longer have to effortlessly determine the best third parties for a collection of Round of 16 games. However, if 32 of the 55 teams qualify, the qualification will be almost without all the excitement. In 2016 alone, the tournament was increased from 16 to 24 teams. So far the tournament is planned in Germany with 24 teams.

UEFA expects tax breaks

Like most sports organizations, UEFA is demanding tax breaks for these tournaments. In Requirements for hosting EM 2024 “Revenue generated by UEFA in connection with the sale of media, marketing, licensing and other commercial rights is not subject to tax or other deductions in the host country,” it said.

A: sportschau.de