The deadline to submit initial bids to host Euro 2012 is next month (Dec 16). I see an article today (in Italian) that says Greece is definitely planning to enter a bid: http://news2000.libero.it/sport/calcio/primo_piano.jsp?id=news&idNews=155369&agency=MPEsperia I've also seen that Italy are considering a bid: http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/oct6a.html Anybody know what other countries are interested? The announcement of the final 3 will be next November with the host announced in Dec 2006.
Scotland and Ireland were contemplating a joint bid at one atage, Spain wanted 2004 so I would be surprised if they were interested.
Yesterday was the deadline for announcing candidacies. There will be 8 bids:- Azerbaijan Greece Italy Romania Russia Turkey Croatia/Hungary Poland/Ukraine 3 finalists from this group will be announced in November.
Azerbaijan? i didn´t heard nothing about them bidding to host the Euro 2012. Edit: I saw it a few minutes ago on Uefa site.
So there's no truth to the rumor that Champions World was going to put in a bid to have it in the US? I heard they were going to change the name to Eurosnob 2012.
I think Greece and Italy are probably good bets to get to the final 3. After that, I'm guessing the 3rd will be one of the joint bids or Russia. So much depends on the organizers and the bid they can put together.
So if Italy get it does that mean they will get their exsisting stadiums renovated or brand new stadiums built
Probably renovations, mostly, but perhaps 1 or 2 new ones. God knows, the stadiums in Italy need updating badly.
Azerbaijan won't stand a chance. Do they have 8 stadiums with 30000 capacity that fit UEFA rules? I can't imagine they have the money to build new ones. Italy is clear favorite I think. Furthermore Greece is a good candidate with their Olympic accomodations. 3rd in the "final" will go between Turkey and Russia I think.
the question I would have on Greece is do they have the depth of stadiums up to UEFA specs as Forza AZ lays out?... If so I'd bet on them as UEFA would attempt to grow the game there with this boost...
The problem with Greece is the concentration of the best stadia within Athens. One of the things that UEFA loos for is for the stadia to be spread around. Also Athens is a nightmare in late June/July, the traffic and heat are a nightmare. Personally I hope that Italy gets it, although Eastern Europe has gone without for a long time now and would make a change.
I guess many of you are not aware that Hungary finished runner-up in its bid to host the Euro 2008, losing out to Austria/Switzerland... and considering they had bid ALONE for 2008, I think their chances are greater doing a joint bid with their neighbors Croatia for 2012. Obviously when I say I sincerely hope Hungary wins the rights to host Euro 2012, I'm a bit biased. But... there is one clear advantage in which UEFA and soccer would benefit if rewarding the Hungary/Croatia bid - and that is UEFA has the chance to regenerate and give new life to soccer passion in two eastern European countries. Rather than just choosing another usual suspect to host the tournament, it has the chance to strengthen extended soccer roots with this bid. Go Hungary!
u have to also keep in mind the racism in these countries, it will be terrible when the host nation(s) play against teams with black players. of course it will be 2012 by then but racism could still be a big thing in e.europe.
Look, I'm familiar with the problem of racism in the region (and I'm sure if Croatia and Hungary get the bid they will do their upmost to fight that problem), but let's get with the current times. They are part of the EU (Croatia will be a member by then.) Let's give them a fair chance to prove themselves...
Good point. At this stage we'd be looking at something like this: -2 stadia in Athens -2 stadia in Thessaloniki -1 on Crete -1 in the Peloponnese (Patra) -1 in Thessaly (Volos city....central Greece) All of these are Olympic stadia and would require only upgrades. And 1 more at least to be accounted for. Some larger cities are currently lobbying the government to host a new 30,000 seat stadium like Ioannina in Epirus and Larissa in Thessaly.
I'd go for Hungary/Croatia. I see nothing wrong with having a few smaller venues in the mix. Russia would be interesting, but hard to see how it'd work from a fan point of view. To get a tourist visa to go there you have to have booked and confirmed accommodation for every single night you are there (with proof faxed from the hotel), and it's not easy to extand a visa when you are there or change it. That's fine for group games, but not so good in the knockout stages when you'd have no way of booking hotels in advance as you wouldn't know where you'd be playing. Also the cities are quite far apart. Moscow and St Petersburg may look close enough if you look at a map of Russia, but they are as far apart as London and Aberdeen. The standard train journey between them takes seven and a half hours.
whoa ,didnt know about the strict visa rules. I just thought that russia would be an interesting place to visit .It would be good if they hosted games all across the russian continent from vladivostock to moscow.Fans would travel on Aeroflot for the games.
Greece will get it imo. They have the infrastructure left over after the Olympics. Although it would be nice to see a new Athens stadium used, aside from the national stadium plus Olympiakos' Russia has the problem as quoted on the Soviet Union board with "hosting games nr Chechnya" and the problems that will arise. Games will stay in the west, and not beyond Siberia. The only thing against Italy is the stadium situation, but if helps to get those clubs better grounds - then so be it. Hungary and Croatia would be great, espeically the great lengths they have taken to plug their tourism. Both the Croatian coastline and Budapest are rapidly becoming tourist hotspots. For me it wqould go 1. Greece 2. Italy 3. Hungary/ Croatia 4. Russia Yes, but at least the trains are on time!
I would say Italy or Hungary/Croatia. Either of those would be an interesting venue. For Italy it would be huge motivation to renovate the aging stadiums.