UEFA has confirmed that Ireland is one of 32 countries to express interest in hosting matches as part of the new format that will be adopted for the finals of the Euro 2020 tournament.
The first stage expression of interest will now be followed by the submission of a final bid dossier before April 25th 2014. The successful bidders will be named by UEFA on September 25th next year.
12 countries will host different packages of group games together with one match from the round of 16 or the quarter finals. The semi finals and final will be staged in one other with Istanbul the early favourite having missed out on its bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games that same year.
The FAI will consider themselves to have a fair chance having hosted the UEFA Europa League Final at the Aviva Stadium.
The prospect of hosting a package of games would be a major boost to the Irish economy, without the need to build fresh infrastructure, and could also be a significant factor in the sales of ten year tickets which would be looking to be renewed at around the same time as ticket packages for the Championships would go on sale.
It is likely the Government will assist the preparation of a bid document in the same way as they will for a bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023, while there may also be an opportunity for different business groups to make a contribution in terms of expertise.
The bidding nations and the cities they have proposed as part of the initial expression of interest are:
Armenia (Yerevan), Azerbaijan (Baku), Belarus (Minsk), Belgium (Brussels), Bulgaria (Sofia), Croatia (Zagreb), Czech Republic (Prague), Denmark (Copenhagen), England (London), Finland (Helsinki), France (Lyon), Macedonia (Skopje), Germany (Munich), Greece (Athens), Hungary (Budapest), Israel (Jerusalem), Italy (Rome and Milan), Kazakhstan (Astana), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Poland (Warsaw and Chorzow), Portugal (Lisbon and Porto), Republic of Ireland (Dublin), Romania (Bucharest), Russia (St Petersburg), Scotland (Glasgow), Serbia (Belgrade), Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia), Sweden (Solna), Switzerland (Basel), Turkey (Istanbul), Ukraine (Kiev and Donetsk) and Wales (Cardiff).
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