Yerevan bids to host 2020 UEFA European Championship

September 20, 2013 - 14:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The UEFA Executive Committee has confirmed the list of member associations that have declared an interest in hosting matches at the 2020 UEFA European Championship, UEFA said on its website.

The 32 member associations that have stated their interest, together with their proposed provisional host cities, are:

Armenia (Yerevan), Azerbaijan (Baku), Belarus (Minsk), Belgium (Brussels), Bulgaria (Sofia), Croatia (Zagreb), Czech Republic (Prague), Denmark (Copenhagen), England (London), Finland (Helsinki), France (Lyon), Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Skopje), Germany (Munich), Greece (Athens), Hungary (Budapest), Israel (Jerusalem), Italy (Rome, Milan), Kazakhstan (Astana), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Poland (Warsaw, Chorzow), Portugal (Lisbon, Porto), Republic of Ireland (Dublin), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (St Petersburg), Scotland (Glasgow), Serbia (Belgrade), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia), Sweden (Solna), Switzerland (Basel), Turkey (Istanbul), Ukraine (Kyiv, Donetsk) and Wales (Cardiff).

"We are extremely proud to see the huge interest in the bidding process, with more than half of our member associations willing to host matches at UEFA EURO 2020," said UEFA President Michel Platini. "The finals will be a great celebration of football across the European continent, and the 60th anniversary edition will be truly special, by really coming to the doorstep of all football fans."

The final tournament will be staged in 13 cities across Europe, following a decision taken by the UEFA Executive Committee in January 2013. The matches will be split into 13 different packages, with 12 standard packages, including three group matches and one knockout round (round of 16 or quarter-final), and one package for the semi-finals and the final.

Each of the 32 associations will be allowed to present up to two bids – one for the standard package and one for the semi-finals/final package. Each national association can decide to present the same city, or two different cities, for these two bids, but there will be a maximum of one venue appointed per country. The candidates have the right to change their initial host city selection, but must submit their final bid dossier by April 25, 2014.

The appointment of the host cities by the UEFA Executive Committee will take place on Sept 25, 2014.