By Andrew Warshaw in Monaco
August 29 – Michel Platini says his revolutionary pan-European 2020 Euro finals will wipe out white elephants as it emerged that Wembley stadium is now odds-on favourite to hold the latter stages of the finals.
UEFA announce on September 19 which 13 out of 19 proposed cities have been successful in their bid to host games at the one-off innovation to mark UEFA’s 60th anniversary.
“At a time when the issue of legacy of big events are being scrutinised, this Euro will be responsible because it will not require major investment on behalf of states and tax payers,” said Platini. “We will no longer have the white elephants of the past.”
Meanwhile, England appear to be winning the race to host the semi-final and final of Platini’s revolutionary tournament. Only Munich is standing against Wembley but German officials attending the Champions League draw here privately hinted, not for the first time, they may just go for the early stages of the competition in order to concentrate on bidding for Euro 2024 outright.
German FA president Wolfgang Niersbach said recently that a decision on whether to press ahead with a bid for the 2020 final phase remained “open” and re-iterated that during private discussions in Monaco.
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