By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – UEFA will vote on selecting the host nation for the 2020 European Championship in May 2014, several months later than originally announced, another decision which seems to help Istanbul’s campaign to stage the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
Detailed bid regulations will be published in December this year following discussions with all 53 national associations on UEFA President Michel Platini’s radical new plan, revealed at the weekend, for possible multiple hosts across several countries and cities.
September 2013 will then be the deadline for actual bids to be submitted, giving candidates another eight months thereafter to lobby for support.
Interestingly, that same September is also the time Istanbul will learn whether it has won the right to stage the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year.
Platini made it clear at the weekend that he is running out of patience with Turkey’s controversial interest in hosting both the Olympics and Euro 2020 in the same summer.
“We are not going to wait until we know whether or not Turkey are going to get the Olympics,” said Platini as he unveiled his multiple hosts idea.
“It creates a problem for us.
“We do have other candidates – everyone has the possibility.”
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