England are set to finally ‘win’ a tournament – ending the country’s reign as the outcasts of world football, writes Martin Lipton in Geneva .
UEFA president Michel Platini is expected to confirm on Friday that Wembley will host the final and both semi-finals of the 2020 European Championship , after a vote by European football’s ruling executive committee.
The London venue is up against Munich's Allianz Arena in the final vote, but the Germans are keen to prioritise their bid to be sole hosts of Euro 2024.
UEFA will then name the other 12 cities, across 12 countries, that will host group games and one knock-out match in 2020, with Ireland, Scotland and Wales all competing.
England have failed with attempts to host both the 2006 and 2018 World Cups since being given the rights to Euro 96 some 22 years ago, suffering humiliating reverses as promises of support evaporated.
But, having repaired their relationship with European chiefs, and with the backing of Germany, the FA believe they will be toasting victory on Friday afternoon.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino appeared to be hinting that Wembley would be chosen as he reeled off the list of potential candidates for the quarter-final package, and included Munich but not London.
FA chairman Greg Dyke confirmed a successful England bid will be the springboard for a likely attempt to be sole hosts of Euro 2028 - and even a possible future effort to bring the World Cup Finals back home.
Dyke said: "We are down to two. Munich is a great stadium, but I think we feel that we have got a pretty good chance.
"Wembley is a brilliant stadium. It holds a lot of people and everyone thinks that Wembley is one of the great stadiums of the world now.
"It would be great for English football. It would be even better if England can reach at least the semi-finals. And if we get the final we might well bid for 2028.
"We will bid again for the World Cup at some stage. It is quite hard to see England organising and winning a World Cup bid at the moment, while Sepp Blatter is (FIFA's) president.
"We have said that we won’t bid while Mr Blatter is there, but the next time there is a World Cup decision every country will have a vote instead of it being just the Executive (panel).’’
EURO 2020 D-DAY FACTBOX
Q: Why isn’t there just one country staging the European Championship?
A: Michel Platini’s masterplan for a ‘’Euro for Europe’’ – after he failed to find a willing host for the whole event - means the 24-team tournament will take place in 13 nations but with no hosts automatically qualifying.
Q: What is happening in Geneva on Friday?
A: The first decision to be taken by UEFA’s 16-man executive committee is whether Wembley or Munich’s Allianz Arena will host the semi-finals and Final. David Gill and Germany’s DFB head Wolfgang Niersbach cannot vote. England are strong favourites.
Q: Okay, that’s one nation. What about the rest?
A: In total, 19 countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, Holland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and Wales) have applied to host three group games and one knock-out match, all in the same stadium, although the winner of the show-piece package will drop out of the contest.
Only eight of the 17 members of the executive committee will initially be unable to vote when the nations that will get a quarter-final game are chosen. Seven of the stadia, including the Millennium, meet the 60,000-capacity requirements.
UEFA confirmed on Thursday night hat the groups will be split into "geographic regions", meaning one of Dublin, Cardiff and Glasgow is almost certain to miss out.
LIPTON’S PREDICTIONS
Winners London (final and both semi-finals), Dublin, Cardiff, Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Rome, Munich, Bucharest, Budapest, St Petersburg, Baku.
(irishmirror.ie)
Bakudaily.Az
