Euro 2020 format to benefit fans, says Platini
Source: Agencies |
December 8, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
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Supporters will be the main beneficiaries from the radical decision to stage Euro 2020 in cities across the continent rather than in one or two host countries, UEFA President Michel Platini said yesterday.
Platini admitted that fans had struggled with the cost and logistical difficulties of travelling to Poland and Ukraine for 2012 and said UEFA wanted to make their lives easier.
"Before, the fans had to go to the Euro, now the Euro is coming to the fans," Platini told a round table of reporters from international news agencies.
UEFA's executive committee voted on Thursday to stage the tournament in an unspecified number of cities around Europe, with bidding from potential hosts due to start in March.
Further details will be decided in the next few months. "There is a blank piece of paper," said the Frenchman, who admitted there was a hint of eccentricity in the decision.
Any concerns that supporters might have to travel from Lisbon to Astana to follow their team were unfounded, he said.
"The fans won't have to travel but we are taking the matches to fans and supporters in quite a number of countries," he said.
"We have met with the Football Supporters Europe recently and we reassured them we will do whatever is possible to make sure that fans get the necessary support when they travel.
"We won't have a team playing in Sweden, Portugal and Kazakhstan with fans chasing all over the continent.
Platini admitted that fans had struggled with the cost and logistical difficulties of travelling to Poland and Ukraine for 2012 and said UEFA wanted to make their lives easier.
"Before, the fans had to go to the Euro, now the Euro is coming to the fans," Platini told a round table of reporters from international news agencies.
UEFA's executive committee voted on Thursday to stage the tournament in an unspecified number of cities around Europe, with bidding from potential hosts due to start in March.
Further details will be decided in the next few months. "There is a blank piece of paper," said the Frenchman, who admitted there was a hint of eccentricity in the decision.
Any concerns that supporters might have to travel from Lisbon to Astana to follow their team were unfounded, he said.
"The fans won't have to travel but we are taking the matches to fans and supporters in quite a number of countries," he said.
"We have met with the Football Supporters Europe recently and we reassured them we will do whatever is possible to make sure that fans get the necessary support when they travel.
"We won't have a team playing in Sweden, Portugal and Kazakhstan with fans chasing all over the continent.
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