Michel Platini recently announced that the 2020 European Championships will be hosted across Europe with games held at stadiums in multiple countries. He believes that this way it will prevent host nations from having to build a copious number of large arenas and will prevent worries about infrastructure failing to be implemented in time. UEFA have also suggested this will maximise the number of fans that will be able to participate in any given Championship, however sceptics are warning that fans following a specific team may come off worse as a result especially with teams possibly having to travel long distances between matches. However, with many footballers flying around the globe on a regular basis this may not be such a problem and poor travellers such as England may find that not having to set up a base camp abroad for a month may assuage player boredom. Have you got any thoughts on this latest development? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20639814
Platini has lost the plot totally now, which qualifies him nicely to take over FIFA when Blatter retires.
People are writing this off awfully quickly. I don't know what I think of this plan yet, but surely from an economic standpoint there are a lot of positives.
unless you end up travelling through half a dozen countries to see all your country's games through groups and knockout stages.
Yes, that's clearly the downside. The games will be full of neutrals who live locally. But host countries have recently been spending insane amounts of money in preparation for these tournaments, and sometimes on facilities which fall into disuse after it's over. It's incredibly wasteful and decadent.
I agree with the last part, so how important is it that "new" countries host it. Have two neighbouring countries that have already done it host it, or a previous host. Surely it is the tournament itself that is important not the varying locations. If "hosting" it is an issue for qualification, then have no hosts automatically qualify.
I think it would be smart to maybe select four or five countries which are all close together and within the EU, for cheap and easy travel across borders, in a region where there are plenty of suitable pre-existing stadiums nearby. Some examples: - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, Paris, Lille, Hamburg, Frankfurt - Munich, Stuttgart, Prague, Vienna, Milan, Zurich, Zagreb
Real problem was that none of the major Euro countries were showing any interest, not surprisingly given most of them are not flush with cash right now. The only realistic hope was Turkey and they are more interested in the 2020 Olympics anyway (which I think they might get?).
I think it will completely destroy the atmosphere of it. Occasions like the World Cup and the Olympics are sporting occasions with a carnival atmosphere as fans from all over the world come together to celebrate sport and mingle, drinking together and experience the local culture of wherever the tournament is being hosted. Indeed, one of the activities I enjoyed most at the Olympics was seeing all the different nations I could see represented. If the games are taking place in 20 different cities in 20 different countries, then there's no way anything like that will happen, basically it'll turn it into a glorified champions league.
Apparently it is to do with some anniversary and may only be for 2020 (unless successful). Would be simpler to give it permanently to some country that is hugely successful in putting on sporting events
It would be nice to have a game in Cardiff, like the Olympics, I only have to walk to the end of the road to get to the millennium stadium! I do feel it'll be a nightmare for the teams, supporters who want to follow them, and media attempting to cover the tournament, however. And allocating the final venue will be very political. Might as well have another bidding process...
It's quicker to fly across Europe than america, and they had the world cup. Besides, you would have games near to each other, not other ends of Europe. Previous hosts have also lost money from it, and stadiums weren't even full at Poland/Ukraine. Good idea in my book, especially if Wembley has the final
