Summit meeting this afternoon and Friday morning in Dubrovnik, Croatia, for European football leaders. The UEFA executive committee meets in a “conclave”. With a chapter underlined with a thick line on its agenda: the formalization of the candidate countries for Euro 2020.
Dubrovnik will mark an important milestone for Euro 2020, which will be organized in 13 countries. A “Euro for Europe”, to use Michel Platini’s expression, for which the federations of the Old Continent had until September 12 to confirm their interest. The executive committee will unveil the list of candidate countries on Friday, after a press conference.
According to the timetable revealed by UEFA, April 25, 2014 will be the deadline for the submission of formal application files. The executive committee will then designate the chosen cities, by vote, in September 2014, i.e. 13 cities, one per country.
One city will host the semi-finals and the final. Four will have a quarter-final and three group matches. Eight others will have a round of 16 and three group matches. Each country will be able to submit a maximum of two candidate cities, one for a so-called “ordinary” package (three group matches and an eighth or quarter), another for the semi-finals and final package.
Any favorites? There are many of them, especially since most countries would have chosen to present a single city, in the hope of increasing their chances. Let us cite, in no precise order, Switzerland with Basel, Hungary with Budapest, the Netherlands with Amsterdam, Belgium with Brussels, Greece with Athens or Germany with Munich, likely to host the final with its stadium (Allianz Arena) with 71.000 seats.
On the other hand, France has little chance of being designated. The FFF presented the file for Lyon and its future large stadium, but it is hard to imagine UEFA granting it a match package four years after Euro 2016 organized in France.
It remains to be seen whether the executive committee will opt for wisdom, and a certain form of conservatism, by favoring traditional countries (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy (Rome or Milan), or if it will dare to assign meetings to less traditional candidacies. Azerbaijan, for example, reportedly intends to submit a file. Last year, the country successfully organized the women's under-17 world championship. Israel has also expressed its interest.
Another subject of debate for UEFA in Dubrovnik is the situation of Gibraltar, which became the 54th member of the European institution in May. The executive committee must decide on the number of preliminary rounds and the number of places allocated in club competitions to this new entrant.
