Published 20:39 IST, September 27th 2018
Germany to host UEFA Euro 2024
Having fended off Turkey's bid, Germany has been confirmed as the nation to host the UEFA Euro 2024. It will be the first big major tournament hosted by the country since the FIFA World Cup 2006
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Having fended off Turkey's bid, Germany has been confirmed as the nation to host the UEFA Euro 2024. It will be the first big major tournament hosted by the country since the FIFA World Cup 2006.
A total of 10 stadium spread in as many cities have been chosen to host the matches. The group stage and knockout games will be held in Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart, while the final will take place in Berlin.
Speaking about this memorable achievement, Philipp Lahm, former Germany skipper and his country's ambassador was quoted by BBC, "We have amazing stadiums, fans who love football, first and foremost we have people who love celebrating with other Europeans. We will organise a huge football party in Germany."
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin claimed that the right nation had won the bid. "The procedure was transparent. The voting was democratic. Every democratic decision is the right decision so I can only say I am looking forward to seeing a fantastic Euro in 2024," he added.
Germany have never hosted a EURO competition in their history - West Germany did it in 1988 - so it will be a huge achievement for the country who are one of the biggest nations in the international arena.
Even before Germany were confirmed as the hosts, there were murmurs regarding the rejection of Turkey, due to various reasons. A source in UEFA had said, "A lot of things are working against Turkey."
As per UEFA, Germany's vision for the tournament was 'rooted in the belief that football can unify society and this tournament can create an enduring legacy for European football'.
The 2024 Euro will see a return to single-nation host tournament, with 2020 Euro being held in multi-nations, Prior to the announcement of the hosting nation, UEFA had claimed that the decision for 2020 was nothing short of a nightmare.
"Organising Euro-2020 in 12 different countries with different regulations is a nightmare. For 2024, UEFA does not want to take any risks and with Germany there is the assurance that everything will be ready on time and will work perfectly," a source of UEFA was quoted by AFP.
(With inputs from PTI)
20:34 IST, September 27th 2018