PARIS: Turkiye is the only rival to the UK and Ireland candidacy to host the 2028 European Championship, UEFA announced on Wednesday after receiving final bids from interested countries.

European football’s governing body said that Turkiye would go up against the joint bid from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to host Euro 2028 and that Turkiye is also a candidate to host Euro 2032.

Italy is the only other bidder for the hosting rights to the 2032 tournament.

“In the forthcoming months, the UEFA administration will evaluate each of the bids, with the UEFA Executive Committee to vote on who has won the right to host both editions in October,” the body said in a statement.

The British and Irish joint bid for Euro 2028 is the favourite after the countries abandoned plans to run for the 2030 World Cup.

Wembley, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Newcastle’s St James’ Park, Birmingham’s Villa Park and Everton’s new stadium in Liverpool would host matches in England, as would Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.

The Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Hampden Park in Glasgow, Dublin’s Lansdowne Road and Casement Park in Belfast are the other venues being proposed in the bid.

The English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and Irish football associations said in a joint statement: “High-capacity, world-famous football grounds and state-of-the-art new venues will provide the platform for the biggest and most commercially successful UEFA EURO ever — making us a low-risk, high reward host.”

The bid carries the slogan “Football for all, football for good, football for the future”, and says more than 80 per cent of ticket-holders would be able to travel to matches by public transport.

It also predicts benefits of up to 2.6 billion ($3.25 billion) for the nations involved.

England and Scotland hosted 12 games during Euro 2020, which took place across Europe in 2021 after a delay caused by the pandemic.

Fan violence marred the Wembley final, won by Italy, but UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has played down fears the disorder would affect England’s chances of hosting major events.

Turkiye is hoping for success this time after losing out to Germany in the bidding to host Euro 2024.

Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium will host this year’s Champions League final on June 10.

Italy, the reigning European champions, have hosted the Euro twice before, in 1968 and 1980.

Rome’s Stadio Olimpico was also used as a venue at Euro 2020.

The 2028 and 2032 tournaments will feature 24 teams.

Russia had initially declared an interest last year in hosting one of the two tournaments but UEFA announced last May that it would not consider any bid from the Russian Football Union.

That was after Russian clubs and national teams were suspended from all UEFA competitions due to the war in Ukraine.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023