NYON: European federation UEFA has revealed that Italy and Turkey do not want to be rivals to stage the Euro 2032 finals but to pitch in together.

The 2028 finals are due to be staged in Britain and Ireland though this has to be formally confirmed.

Turkey had also been considering a bid for 2028 but this was considered to have had little chance of success and thus GB and Ireland can expect to go forward unopposed.

A UEFA statement said:

“[We have] received a request from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to merge their individual bids into one joint bid to host UEFA EURO 2032.”

“In 2021, UEFA initiated a bidding process for the hosting of two consecutive editions of its European Championship, in 2028 and 2032. TFF entered the process for both editions, while FIGC decided to bid only for the 2032 edition. A joint bid to host the 2028 edition has also been placed by five associations: England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

“UEFA will now work with FIGC and TFF to ensure that the documentation to be submitted for their joint bid is compliant with the bidding requirements.

“If the joint bid does comply with such requirements, it will be submitted to the UEFA Executive Committee at the meeting scheduled on 10 October, where the appointments for 2028 and 2032 will be made. Decisions on venues and match schedules will be made at a later stage.”

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