By David Gold
October 20 – The Czech Republic is planning to bid for the European under 21 championship in 2015 rather than the European Championships in 2020, insideworldfootball has learnt.
They had been linked with a joint bid for the 2020 competition along with neighbours Slovakia, but the current economic climate and worsening situation in the Eurozone which the Czech Republic is part of, has led them to drop any thoughts of bidding for the tournament.
The Czech Football Association told insideworldfootball: “[We] don’t plan at the moment to bid for Euro 2020.
“As a result of the global economic crisis, the conditions for organising big events…in the Czech Republic are very difficult.
“The Czech FA [will] focus on [bidding for] the European Championship Under 21 in 2015.
“In 2013 [we] narrowly lost to Israel.
“We believe that the next time we will be successful.”
The Czechs have never hosted the senior European Championships or the under-21 championships before in their history, even as the former Czechoslovakia.
The only competition the Czech Republic has hosted since its independence in 1993 was the 2008 European under-19 Championship.
Their bid to host the 2015 European under-21 Championship will face competition from Bulgaria, who also bid to host the 2013 event, along with England and Wales.
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734830495labto1734830495ofdlr1734830495owedi1734830495sni@d1734830495log.d1734830495ivad1734830495
Related stories
January 2011: England lose another bid as Israel awarded European Under-21 Championships