Uefa: Euro 2020 To Be Hosted By Various Cities

Euro 2020 will be staged in various cities across Europe, the continent's football governing body has announced.

Uefa secretary general Gianni Infantino revealed the news to reporters following an executive committee meeting.

"The 2020 tournament will be staged across the continent in various major cities throughout Europe following a decision taken today," he said.

He dubbed the tournament in eight years' time "A Euro for Europe".

"The response has been extremely positive from all the national associations," he added.

Former French captain Michel Platini, who is president of Uefa, first mooted the idea of holding the tournament in a number of cities as a way of avoiding high costs at a time of dire financial constraints in many European countries.

Turkey, which has put itself forward as a candidate for 2020 alongside Azerbaijan and Georgia and a three-way bid from the Republic of Ireland, Wales and Scotland, was the only country opposed to the project.

Istanbul is also a candidate to host the Olympic Games in the same year, although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that having one country host two major events so close to each other is against its rules.

Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke, speaking in a personal capacity, said last week that he failed to grasp the concept of a continent-wide tournament, saying it would destroy the competition.

Platini said before the eve of this year's Euro finals that the 60th anniversary of the competition, which is held every four years, could involve "12 or 13 cities across Europe" and that most of the 53 UEFA federations were in favour.

Central to his argument was that it would make organisation easier, after serious concerns about cost overruns and infrastructure delays in this year's co-hosts Poland and particularly Ukraine.