By Andrew Warshaw
April 11 – Germany is considering bidding for the 2020 European Championships following the huge success of the 2006 World Cup (pictured left), according to the new German Football Federation (DFB) President Wolfgang Niersbach.
UEFA, European football’s governing body, recently sent out invites to all 53 member federations and Niersbach (pictured below) said the issue will be discussed at the DFB’s Executive Committee meeting on April 27.
The deadline for applying has been set for May 15, with UEFA due to choose the hosts by late 2013 or early 2014.
Turkey, which missed out on Euro 2016 by one vote, is considering whether or not to bid again pending Istanbul’s hopes of staging the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year.
At the UEFA Congress in March, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed his country was keen to stage Euro 2020 but Germany will be a formidable opponent.
Niersbach, who was media director when Germany hosted the 1988 Euros, has risen through the ranks of German football and was elected DFB President in March, putting him in charge of the largest national single sports federation in the world with an estimated 6.7 million members.
He left his post as chief executive six weeks ago to succeed Theo Zwanziger as President and revealed Germany’s 2020 ambitions in an interview with football magazine Kicker.
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