France Will Host Euro 2016

May 28th, 2010 | by: Daryl |

euro 2016 france UEFA President Michel unveiled his home country France as hosts of Euro 2016 today. I know what you’re thinking. “Fix!”, right? But probably not. UEFA is not a dictatorship, and France was elected as Euro 2016 host after a series of ballots by UEFA committee members.

The other two bidding nations were Italy and Turkey. Italy was knocked out after the first round of voting, and France defeated Turkey by just one vote in the runoff.

“I want first to thank our friends from Italy and Turkey; I feel for them and the feelings of frustration and sadness after months of work and I wish Italian and Turkish football good luck,” said French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes.

“For us it is a moment of intense emotions, given that in 2016 we will welcome European football to France. We will fulfil our promises and we thank our friends on the Executive Committee at UEFA. They have put their trust in us and that’s what counts for us. This is a beautiful day for us.”

Maybe the last few years have been a blur for me. But it feels like France only just hosted the 1998 World Cup last week. France also hosted the 1984 Euros and the third ever World Cup back in 1938.

I’m sure most will agree that Turkey would have been the much more interesting choice, if only because they’ve never hosted a tournament before. Turkey’s most recent big European football event was that insanely entertaining 2005 Champions League final between Milan and Liverpool in Istanbul. I’m assuming every game at a tournament hosted by Turkey would be just as dramatic.

I’d imagine that the reason France won out in the end was the big Euros expansion we’re getting in 2016, when the tournament goes from 16 to 24 teams. Upping that number by a third is a gamble in and of itself, so I can understand why UEFA would want a host who’s been there, done that, and got the Footix t-shirt.

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JeanFrancoisRacinet

The 1998 World Cup was also the FIRST world cup to see 32 teams instead of 24 teams. It was hosted by France too. Is this a trend? I think France has better venues as well, I'm just happy Italy didn't win.
http://www.worldcupblog.org Daryl

Ah, good spot. So maybe France is now officially the place where tournaments go to get bigger.
http://twitter.com/lukaslan Haluk Aktuccar

Big mistake for not giving Turkey an opportunity to organize a great tournament with hospitality and enthusiasm.
sandra350

Daryl, yes, I think you're right – the fact that this will be the first 24-team Euro, the voters felt France was a safer bet. Also, the 1984 Euro tournament is considered one of the best, it was a fantastically organized tournament with incredible, memorable games. France 1998 also was a wonderful tournament. The French know how to organized these tournaments.

France isn't the only country to have won a number of bids like this – Mexico's hosted the wc twice.

That said, I too would love to see a tournament like this in Turkey. I love Turkey and am sorry they're not in the wc. Surely the fact that they came so close to winning the big means that they're becoming considered more serious bidders now and hopefully they'll win it in a future bid.
sandra350

Also, the French recently hosted the fantastic 2007 rugby world cup – a tournament that all who participated in said was very well-run and organized.