By David Gold
May 31 – St. Etienne and Toulouse missed out as the French Football Federation (FFF) confirmed the nine cities to host games during the 2016 European Championships, which will include new stadiums in Lille and Lyon.
Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Marseille, Nancy, Nice, Paris and Saint-Denis will be host venues.
Lyon was also selected after the resolution of a dispute over the construction of Olympique Lyonnais’ new stadium, the Stade des Lumiéres.
The new home of the seven times French champions will be one of four grounds built for the tournament, alongside new homes for Bordeaux, Nice and new Ligue 1 champions Lille.
The announcement was a blow to St. Etienne and Toulouse, particularly with Lens selected despite its team being relegated to Ligue 2 this year.
“All the bids were of a very, very high standard, but the choice was very clear and decided at the first round of voting,” said FFF President Fernand Duchaussoy.
The 2016 tournament will be the first featuring 24 teams, a 50 per cent increase on the current 16 team competition.
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