Non-stop megalomania: why Italy and Turkey should not host the European Championships

On Tuesday, UEFA decided where the 2028 and 2032 European Championships will take place. And the selections confirm a trend: major tournaments that only take place in one country seem to have no future anymore. In 2028, the European champions will be determined in Great Britain and Ireland, and four years later the European Championships will take place in Turkey and Italy.

The country combination of Türkiye and Italy in particular raises questions. Two countries that are more than 1,900 km apart as the crow flies are organizing a continental tournament together. By plane, a one-way journey takes approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes. Until now, European Championships that took place in two countries were always held by neighboring countries. In 2008 it came from Switzerland and Austria, in 2012 from Poland and Ukraine.

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And in fact, when announcing the 2032 tournament, UEFA also required that “the candidate countries must be close to each other”. In the eyes of the European association, this has fulfilled the offer of Turkey and Italy. Quite an interesting definition of ‘close together’.

Six countries on three continents

But in 2030 it will be even stranger. As FIFA announced last week, the World Cup will take place in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. But that’s not all: the first three matches of the tournament will take place in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. This is because of the 100th anniversary of the World Cup, as the first edition also took place in South America in 1930.

Logistically, this choice does not seem logical. Imagine if the Swiss national team had to fly to South America for their first match, back to Europe for the next group matches and even further to Morocco for a possible knockout match. A nightmare for fans, players, associations and environmentalists.

South America is doing poorly

But above all, it is also a big missed opportunity for me. In my opinion, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the tournament extensively at the place where it all started would have been the only right solution. An anniversary party for the football-mad South Americans. Instead, the first World Cup will now take place on three continents.

But upon closer inspection it becomes clear that there is more to the prize: namely an advanced plan by FIFA to bring the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia. The World Championships are awarded according to a system where each continent takes one turn. And if the association’s rules go through, only countries from Asia or Oceania will be allowed to register for the 2034 tournament because of the 2026 World Cup in North America and the 2030 edition in Europe, Africa and South America.

Saudi World Cup almost resolved

And lo and behold: shortly after the press release about the awarding of the 2030 tournament, Saudi Arabia announced with a glossy video that it would apply to host the 2034 World Cup. The chances of success of the desert state, which has a million dollar costs are extremely high; an application from Australia is only considered an opportunity from outsiders. In addition, FIFA has now relaxed stadium rules, which also plays into the hands of the multi-million dollar desert state. The world association around President Gianni Infantino no longer seems to want to keep its plans secret.

Meanwhile, the Saudis continue their sportswashing and, after a number of top stars, bring probably the most important tournament in the world to the desert. The critical voices will probably not be quieter than during the World Cup in Qatar last winter. Speaking of which, considering Saudi summer temperatures, it wouldn’t really be surprising that the event would take place in the winter months.

EM 2024 creates expectation

But these are all concerns for tomorrow, when I look to the near future, my football heart starts beating faster again: with the European Championship in Germany in 2024, the next major tournament will take place the way I prefer it: uncomplicated and everything in one country with a strong football culture. Plus in a neighboring country of ours!

And if you trust the stories of the summer fairy tale of 2006, the summer of 2024 can’t come soon enough!