Platini Sets Bulgaria Dreaming of Euro 2020 Glory

UEFA president Michel Platini has made the innovative proposal that Euro 2020 be hosted in about a dozen cities across the European continent at the end of June this year. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria is secretly and against all odds cherishing hopes of a chance to host the Euro 2020 tournament in case it is continent-wide, it emerged on Tuesday.

Michel Platini, president of the European governing body UEFA, initiated the plan to spread the Euro 2020 tournament across the continent in the summer this year. Now it appears to be gathering momentum with German newspaper Bild saying the games could take place in 13 countries.

European football's governing body UEFA is pressing ahead with plans to stage the Euro 2020 tournament in a dozen countries rather than the usual one or two, Germany's executive committee member Theo Zwanziger told Bild.

Bild said that the 12 host cities, one in every country, will depend on seedings and qualifying. A team will be seeded for the 24-team event if it qualifies and is among the 12 best teams from Europe in the world rankings.

The 12 seeds, two from each group, are to host group games and the round of 16. The quarter-final matches are to be played on neutral ground, and the semi-finals and final in a 13th city.

Bulgaria, which currently ranks at spot number 40 with 22 European teams ahead of it, still believes that the new plan gives it a chance to be one of the host cities.

Local pundits have said Bulgaria has enough of time to progress in the ranking and make it to the 12 best-ranked European teams.

Bild said that based on the current FIFA rankings matches could take place in Berlin, Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, London, Amsterdam, Moscow, Zagreb, Athens, Basel, Paris and Brussels. It said that Istanbul was a contender for the final stages.

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