France chosen to host Euro 2016

redout

France have beaten Turkey and Italy for the right to stage the European Championship in 2016.
France previously staged the tournament in 1960 and were hosts again in 1984, winning it with a team captained by Michel Platini, the Uefa president.

The French, hosts and winners of the 1998 World Cup, beat Turkey by just a single vote after Italy were eliminated in the first round of voting.

Euro 2016 will feature 24 countries playing 51 matches over one month.
"This is a beautiful day for us," said Jean-Pierre Escalettes, president of the French Football Federation.

"It is a moment of intense emotion to know that in 2016 France will welcome European football and will fulfil its promises.

"What counts for us is to have the full confidence of Uefa and this trust will not be betrayed.

"We also understand the frustration of Italy and Turkey - particularly Turkey, who lost by a single vote after bidding for a third time."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and former national team star Zinedine Zidane supported their country's case in a presentation to Uefa's ruling executive in Geneva on Friday.

The French government has pledged to help guarantee the projected 1.7bn euro (£1.45bn) cost of building and renovating stadiums.

The 2016 event will feature 24 countries for the first time, up from 16 in Euro 2012, which is being co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland.

France will become the first country to stage the European Championship three times.

BBC

Leiva

**cough Michel Platini

ShiverinEskimo

This will be excellent if Ireland qualify. Handy enough to get over and back for fairly cheap between ferries/cheap flights to london + tunnel. World Cup was hosted a relatively short time ago so infrastructure/logistics will be good.

redout

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

This will be excellent if Ireland qualify. Handy enough to get over and back for fairly cheap between ferries/cheap flights to london + tunnel. World Cup was hosted a relatively short time ago so infrastructure/logistics will be good.

IF ?

Its practically a certainty after UEFA dumbed down the qualifying to allow 24 teams compete. Its all about more money.

Seaneh

redout wrote: »

IF ?

Its practically a certainty after UEFA dumbed down the qualifying to allow 24 teams compete. Its all about more money.

I think the 24 teams thing is better, gives more countries a chance to play at a major tournament, will still be just as hard to win or even get out of your group.

I'm all for anything that helps our or any small nations, chances of playing in major tournaments.

LeeroyJones

Apparently the FAI are trying to piece together a plan to host 2020. With the 24 teams apparently 10 stadiums are needed. So Lansdowne Road.... Croke Park if GAA allows, just 8 more to go!

sceptre

Good choice. They've got the stadiums from the World Cup, all they have to do is some window dressing for the most part.

redout

Seaneh wrote: »

I think the 24 teams thing is better, gives more countries a chance to play at a major tournament, will still be just as hard to win or even get out of your group.

I'm all for anything that helps our or any small nations, chances of playing in major tournaments.

Its only better if you are one of the poorer countries that cannot qualify. I think its ridiculous to be honest as the new system will allow practically half of all UEFA countries to qualify. It will have some negative aspects in my opinion as teams will no longer need to greatly better themselves in order to qualify.

the_monkey

redout wrote: »

IF ?

Its practically a certainty after UEFA dumbed down the qualifying to allow 24 teams compete. Its all about more money.

24 ? weren't there 32 before ? how will that work ?

edit, sorry 32 is world cup, so there were only 16 in EC .., so with 24 how will it work ?

12 qualify from top 2 , + 4 best 3rd place finishes ?

LeeroyJones

the_monkey wrote: »

24 ? weren't there 32 before ? how will that work ?

it currently has 16 teams, the world cup has 32

Seaneh

LeeroyJones wrote: »

Apparently the FAI are trying to piece together a plan to host 2020. With the 24 teams apparently 10 stadiums are needed. So Lansdowne Road.... Croke Park if GAA allows, just 8 more to go!

Are they allowed use two stadiums in dublin?

would be weird because Croke Park is such a CRAP stadium for football matches so the final being the the "****tier" stadium would be odd.

Semple Stadium - Thurles - 55k
Gaelic Grounds - Limerick - 50k
Páirc Uí Chaoimh - cork - 43k
Fitzgerald Stadium - Kilarney- 43k
McHale Park - Castlebar - 43k
Pearse Stadium - Galway - 34k
Breffni Park - Cavan - 32k
Dr. Hyde Park - Roscommon - 30k
Cusack Park - Ennis - 28k
O'Moore Park - Portlaoise - 27k
Páirc Tailteann - Navan - 25k


The problem with ALL of the above though is they have terraced areas. they would have to be refitted to be all seater stadiums and temporary seating wouldn't be allowed and there is no way the Gah-heads would allow it to happen, especially in croker.

rossie1977

LeeroyJones wrote: »

Apparently the FAI are trying to piece together a plan to host 2020. With the 24 teams apparently 10 stadiums are needed. So Lansdowne Road.... Croke Park if GAA allows, just 8 more to go!

ireland if they did host would have to share with someone else, probably scotland like austria/switzerland did

with some fine tuning thomond park (ie the addition of seating in the 2 terraces). after that you would need to make available alot of funding to stadiums like castlebar, pearse stadium in galway if they were to get to standard, both have one new all-seater stand and would need at least one more

carlop

Seaneh wrote: »

Are they allowed use two stadiums in dublin?

would be weird because Croke Park is such a CRAP stadium for football matches so the final being the the "****tier" stadium would be odd.

Semple Stadium - Thurles - 55k
Gaelic Grounds - Limerick - 50k
Páirc Uí Chaoimh - cork - 43k
Fitzgerald Stadium - Kilarney- 43k
McHale Park - Castlebar - 43k
Pearse Stadium - Galway - 34k
Breffni Park - Cavan - 32k
Dr. Hyde Park - Roscommon - 30k
Cusack Park - Ennis - 28k
O'Moore Park - Portlaoise - 27k
Páirc Tailteann - Navan - 25k


The problem with ALL of the above though is they have terraced areas. they would have to be refitted to be all seater stadiums and temporary seating wouldn't be allowed and there is no way the Gah-heads would allow it to happen, especially in croker.

This has been done to death at this point, but the main problem is that places like Cavan and Thurles don't have anywhere near the infrastructure to house 32k and 55k fans respectively. Remember for a GAA match the majority of fans drive home or live locally, with a major football tournament that isn't the case.

Ireland will never host a major tournament, and rightfully so.

adamski8

The French government has pledged to help guarantee the projected 1.7bn euro (£1.45bn) cost of building and renovating stadiums.

Why the hell would they need to invest that much in stadia

Seaneh

carlop wrote: »

This has been done to death at this point, but the main problem is that places like Cavan and Thurles don't have anywhere near the infrastructure to house 32k and 55k fans respectively. Remember for a GAA match the majority of fans drive home or live locally, with a major football tournament that isn't the case.

Ireland will never host a major tournament, and rightfully so.

This is true. but the others easily could.

also, they might be allowed to use two stadiums in another city, bringing thomand into play.

Seaneh

adamski8 wrote: »

Why the hell would they need to invest that much in stadia

Security upgrades I'd reckon. Also some of the stadiums would just need little refits and touch ups, updated transport links etc.

carlop

Seaneh wrote: »

This is true. but the others easily could.

also, they might be allowed to use two stadiums in another city, bringing thomand into play.

Cork, Limerick and Galway could just about do it, but even then it would be a tight squeeze, and that leaves us with four cities and only one available stadium that passes UEFA requirements.

5starpool

Surely we will qualify with 24 teams going through, although ironically, the only time we have ever qualified for the Euros, there were only 8 teams in it.

LeeroyJones

rossie1977 wrote: »

ireland if they did host would have to share with someone else, probably scotland like austria/switzerland did

with some fine tuning thomond park (ie the addition of seating in the 2 terraces). after that you would need to make available alot of funding to stadiums like castlebar, pearse stadium in galway if they were to get to standard, both have one new all-seater stand and would need at least one more

I totally agree, the most likely way would be with some sort of a Celtic Hosting with the North, Wales and Scotland. Then there would be

Hampden Park
Celtic Park
Ibrox
Murrayfield-maybe
Lansdowne Road
Croke Park-maybe
Stadium Northern Ireland-if that goes ahead!
Millennium Stadium
Liberty Stadium
Cardiff City Stadium

mike65

53 teams in the UEFA zone, 24 finalists. 45%! Even Ireland will qualify without really trying!

Fr Tod Umptious

LeeroyJones wrote: »

I totally agree, the most likely way would be with some sort of a Celtic Hosting with the North, Wales and Scotland. Then there would be

Hampden Park
Celtic Park
Ibrox
Murrayfield-maybe
Lansdowne Road
Croke Park-maybe
Stadium Northern Ireland-if that goes ahead!
Millennium Stadium
Liberty Stadium
Cardiff City Stadium

No way 4 associations would be allowed free entry to the competition

Can people please get over it and realize that Ireland will never be apart of hosting a major tournament.

Fr Tod Umptious

the_monkey wrote: »

24 ? weren't there 32 before ? how will that work ?

edit, sorry 32 is world cup, so there were only 16 in EC .., so with 24 how will it work ?

12 qualify from top 2 , + 4 best 3rd place finishes ?

It's a stupid move, the tournament was great with 16, 24 is just watering it down

Coillte_Bhoy

Seaneh wrote: »

I think the 24 teams thing is better, gives more countries a chance to play at a major tournament, will still be just as hard to win or even get out of your group.

I'm all for anything that helps our or any small nations, chances of playing in major tournaments.

Care to explain how it will be just as hard as it is currently???

aidan24326

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

No way 4 associations would be allowed free entry to the competition

Can people please get over it and realize that Ireland will never be apart of hosting a major tournament.

Agreed. We will never be part of hosting a major tournament because we simply don't have the infrastructure in place. That time the FAI tried to make a bid for the euros was just an embarrassment. It really shows us up as a country that we would be so far short of being able to host something like that. Celtic Tiger me arse.

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

It's a stupid move, the tournament was great with 16, 24 is just watering it down

Probably another Platini idea. Great player, rather annoying administrator.

Draupnir

I think it was Des that posted a percentage breakdown before of the number of entrants versus the number of member countries in UEFA to show that this upgrade to 24 teams basically puts the percentage back to where it was in the mid nineties.

You have to remember that the USSR existed when there were 8 teams in the competition, it was extended to 16 when that broke up to create a whole load of new countries. We haven't had an extension since 1992 even though UEFA has grown by 20 members or so since then.

My feeling, extension is good. There will still be few crap matches in the European Championships, unlike the odd brutal game you get in every World Cup.

Coillte_Bhoy

Seaneh wrote: »

Are they allowed use two stadiums in dublin?

would be weird because Croke Park is such a CRAP stadium for football matches so the final being the the "****tier" stadium would be odd.

Semple Stadium - Thurles - 55k
Gaelic Grounds - Limerick - 50k
Páirc Uí Chaoimh - cork - 43k
Fitzgerald Stadium - Kilarney- 43k
McHale Park - Castlebar - 43k
Pearse Stadium - Galway - 34k
Breffni Park - Cavan - 32k
Dr. Hyde Park - Roscommon - 30k
Cusack Park - Ennis - 28k
O'Moore Park - Portlaoise - 27k
Páirc Tailteann - Navan - 25k


The problem with ALL of the above though is they have terraced areas. they would have to be refitted to be all seater stadiums and temporary seating wouldn't be allowed and there is no way the Gah-heads would allow it to happen, especially in croker.

Is anyone seriously suggesting that the likes of Roscoomon, cavan, Navan, Castlebar, Thurles etc could stage matches in an international tournament. It's not just a matter of making the stadia all seater, most would have to be rebuilt from scratch as no way could they ever be tinkkered around with to bring up to uefa standard. As for the transport infrastructure, accommodation, communications, security issues??? FFS will some of ye get a grip.

Eire-Dearg

"Who were you expecting to get it, f*****s"

greendom

aidan24326 wrote: »

Probably another Platini idea. Great player, rather annoying administrator.

So who was the last great UEFA President ? Has there ever been one?

I just thought they existed so that fans would have someone to take the piss out of.

I don't think 24 teams is such a bad idea - looking forward to a feast of European football in 2016

noodler

Draupnir wrote: »

My feeling, extension is good. There will still be few crap matches in the European Championships, unlike the odd brutal game you get in every World Cup.

Not sure I entirely agree with this. IMO Europe is easily the best continent in terms of numbers of quality nations, I think we have more teams that didn't qualify but could make an impact than the other continents.

I would therefore surmise that adding the likes of Russia, us, Finland, Sweden, Israel, the Czechs, Poland, Turkey, Croatia, Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria (all teams who failed to reach WC 2010) wouldn't really dilute the European Championships to the extent some are suggesting.

Certainly not to the extent that adding some of the lesser nations from Asia etc does to the World Cup anyway.

greendom

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

"Who were you expecting to get it, f*****s"

Well it saves that annoying business of having to qualify for tournaments

_blank_

Draupnir wrote: »

I think it was Des

I don't think it was me.

One way around not letting the 4 "Celtic Nations" a free pass would be to run a mini tournament, round robin type of thing where 2 of the 4 qualify. Isn't there a Celtic Cup starting next year anyway?

Morzadec

Funnily enough apparently it was Ireland and Scotland who originally pushed for a 24 team tournament. Don't see why there's so many against it, it means we might actually get to a European Cup finals for a change, surely it's good for us?

Can anyone explain to me how it works though, format-wise? Nothing on Wiki that I could see...

I remember in World Cup 94 it was a 24 team tournament. Top 2 in each 6 groups went through, and then the 4 highest-points teams from 3rd place finishes to make a second round of 16. Bit of a retarded system in my opinion, because you have all these group games just to eliminate 8 teams and then you're in to the knockout phase. Not keen on the idea of 3rd place teams in a group of 4 getting in to the knockout round

Bukman13

the_monkey wrote: »

24 ? weren't there 32 before ? how will that work ?

edit, sorry 32 is world cup, so there were only 16 in EC .., so with 24 how will it work ?

12 qualify from top 2 , + 4 best 3rd place finishes ?

The format for 2016 will most likely be:

9 groups (2 x 5, 7 x 6)

Top two from each group and the best team in third place advance. The other eight play-off for the final four spots.

This makes it almost impossible for one of the big nations to miss out imo. There will also be more dead rubbers near the end of the qualification as the top 2 teams automatically advance.

Also if the draw was today Ireland would be in pot 3.

DazMarz

Aside from having problems of infrastructure and so on in small, provincial towns such as Thurles and so on, there is also the issue of UEFA not permitting full-scale international games in a major international tournament to be held in stadia that are not exclusively for use by soccer...

I thought I read that somewhere before, when someone mentioned that Croker could host a European Cup Final or something and (aside from the terracing being an issue) there was also some issue surrounding the fact that the stadium's primary use was not for soccer, but for another code and this was unnacceptable by UEFA/FIFA rules.

I'm not sure if this is true or not but...

Besides the point, for Ireland to host a major international tournament, there would need to be a stadium equal to, or greater than, Lansdowne Road in:

-The Northside of Dublin (tho I'm not sure if two stadiums in the one city are permitted!)
-Cork
-Galway
-Limerick
-Waterford
-Kilkenny
-and possibly 2-3 more in other locations with decent infrastructure.

Basically, this would entail the construction of 9 or so new stadia of (as I've mentioned) equal or greater quality and capacity as Lansdowne and also an overhaul of the infrastructure in the environs they would be built in. The project would cost into the billions

(didn't the new Lansdowne cost somewhere in the region of €400m??? making the cost of the 9 or so new stadiums in the region of €3.6 billion, then add on the upgrades to roads and everything would easily push it into the €4billion mark)

and would also result in Ireland having a plethora of UEFA-Elite stadiums, that for 11 of the 12 months of the year were standing empty and slowly crumbling into the ground once the big tournament was over...

Ireland is simply not designed nor is it equipped for a major international tournament.

aidan24326

greendom wrote: »

So who was the last great UEFA President ? Has there ever been one?

I just thought they existed so that fans would have someone to take the piss out of.

I don't think 24 teams is such a bad idea - looking forward to a feast of European football in 2016

There has of course, the last one was Lennart Johannson.

And I don't see why they would increase the number to 24, for me 16 teams in the Euro Finals was enough. All you're doing is diluting it down and adding a few extra teams who haven't a hope in hell of winning it anyway.

People will say that teams like North Korea and New Zealand dilute the quality of the world cup but since it's supposed to be a 'world' cup, then it's essential to include teams from all geographical locations. Surely for a continental tournament 16 is plenty? Also, does this mean we go back to the ridiculous situation (like we used to have in the WC) whereby some groups will have 3 qualifying out of 4?

Leiva

.

Mweelrea

mixednuts wrote: »

**cough Michel Platini

Perhaps the french had a hand in it, eh ?

pickarooney

Cool, although it's 6 years away. Christ, I'll be nearly 40 :O

Leiva

pickarooney wrote: »

Cool, although it's 6 years away. Christ, I'll be nearly 40 :O

+1 ..and +1 over 40 :eek:

baalthor

DazMarz wrote: »

there is also the issue of UEFA not permitting full-scale international games in a major international tournament to be held in stadia that are not exclusively for use by soccer...

USA94 ??

During the joint Scottish-Irish bid the UEFA head said Croke Park would be a great stadium for hosting games. As for two stadiums in the same city, two stadiums were used in Lisbon in Euro2004.
You are right about the infrastructure; Ireland would only ever be part of a joint host.

noodler

pickarooney wrote: »

Cool, although it's 6 years away. Christ, I'll be nearly 40 :O

mixednuts wrote: »

+1 ..and +1 over 40 :eek:

Jaysus there is a fair few coffin dodgers on this thread alright.

Pepe LeFrits

pickarooney wrote: »

Cool, although it's 6 years away. Christ, I'll be nearly 40 :O

heh, as soon as I saw the thread I thought 'cool, maybe I'll head over there for a month for the craic', then I thought 'wait, I'll be 33, I might just have some responsibilities by then...'

Yeah, it's a while away yet.

Fr Tod Umptious

baalthor wrote: »

USA94 ??

During the joint Scottish-Irish bid the UEFA head said Croke Park would be a great stadium for hosting games. As for two stadiums in the same city, two stadiums were used in Lisbon in Euro2004.
You are right about the infrastructure; Ireland would only ever be part of a joint host.

I think UEFA/FIFA want full control of a stadium for 6 week prior to a tournamnet, rather than the stadium having to be a soccer stadium.

They have no problem with two stadiums in one city, the problem is when you have multiple cities with two or more venues

Ireland/Scotland had 2 in Dublin, 3 in Glasgow, 2 in Edinburgh

They like to see a country spread it out, quiet right too.

bijapos

Good decision.

Great stadiums, rail, motorway network, loads of accomodation from swanky hotels down to cheap and plentiful campsites. Geographically at the centre of Europe, big immigrant population from a lot of Euro countries and easy access means plenty of people, good weather more or less guaranteed.

Looking forward to it big time.

now if their bars and cafes will only learn what a pint or half litre glass is we'll be flying :cool:

Coillte_Bhoy

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

heh, as soon as I saw the thread I thought 'cool, maybe I'll head over there for a month for the craic', then I thought 'wait, I'll be 33, I might just have some responsibilities by then...'

Yeah, it's a while away yet.

Lucky so and so:(

IvySlayer

Des wrote: »

I don't think it was me.

One way around not letting the 4 "Celtic Nations" a free pass would be to run a mini tournament, round robin type of thing where 2 of the 4 qualify. Isn't there a Celtic Cup starting next year anyway?

Yup

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_4_Associations%27_Tournament

Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland

First matches in February and second ones in May.

rossie1977

DazMarz wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is true or not but...

Besides the point, for Ireland to host a major international tournament, there would need to be a stadium equal to, or greater than, Lansdowne Road in:

-The Northside of Dublin (tho I'm not sure if two stadiums in the one city are permitted!)
-Cork
-Galway
-Limerick
-Waterford
-Kilkenny
-and possibly 2-3 more in other locations with decent infrastructure.

not true, the biggest stadium at euro 2008 was in vienna, capacity 52,000 (so roughly equal to landsdowne), next biggest was basel @ 42,000 and all the others seated 30,000

and would also result in Ireland having a plethora of UEFA-Elite stadiums, that for 11 of the 12 months of the year were standing empty and slowly crumbling into the ground once the big tournament was over...

Ireland is simply not designed nor is it equipped for a major international tournament.

again no because ireland would not host by itself, it would share the hosting with another country so we would only need 4 or maximum 5 stadiums, stadiums like thomond and pearse could be brought up to standard which would take about a year and you would have to build one somewhere from scratch or allow croke park to host

tournaments and sporting events are not given to countries with facilties already in place, if they were why do host cities spend billons on olympics??

ShiverinEskimo

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I think UEFA/FIFA want full control of a stadium for 6 week prior to a tournamnet, rather than the stadium having to be a soccer stadium.

They have no problem with two stadiums in one city, the problem is when you have multiple cities with two or more venues

Ireland/Scotland had 2 in Dublin, 3 in Glasgow, 2 in Edinburgh

They like to see a country spread it out, quiet right too.

There's two cities (Johannesburg and Pretoria) in the upcoming World Cup that have two Stadia in use and there's plenty of Stadia that are rugby grounds but are being used for soccer this summer.

If FIFA/UEFA want to spread their wings and be seen to be sharing it around they'll overlook factors like these.

steelcityblues

They know how to host major sporting occassions very well.
Don't agree with extending the competition to 24 teams, but it should be a good tournament overall! Hopefully, we get there!

Lamper.sffc

aidan24326 wrote: »

There has of course, the last one was Lennart Johannson.

And I don't see why they would increase the number to 24, for me 16 teams in the Euro Finals was enough. All you're doing is diluting it down and adding a few extra teams who haven't a hope in hell of winning it anyway.

People will say that teams like North Korea and New Zealand dilute the quality of the world cup but since it's supposed to be a 'world' cup, then it's essential to include teams from all geographical locations. Surely for a continental tournament 16 is plenty? Also, does this mean we go back to the ridiculous situation (like we used to have in the WC) whereby some groups will have 3 qualifying out of 4?

As mentioned in a previous post on this thread by noodler, there are plenty of teams of decent quality who didnt make it to the world cup from Europe. These type of teams completing the extra 8 required to make up 24 wouldnt really be diluting the competition. Plus I do remember a certain team (Denmark) who didnt qualify for the Euro s ending up winning it as they where allowed in due to troubles in Yugoslavia. So it is possible for team who just miss out on qualifying to have the required quality to win it.

I for one think its a great idea and a chance for some countries who dont always qualify regularly to have more of a chance of enjoying a big international tournament.

Peyton Manning

The thought of Thurles holding a major international football match is actually hilarious.