Türkiye favorite pick for Euro 2032: UEFA president

ISTANBUL

Türkiye is the favorite candidate to host Euro 2032 tournament, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has said while talking about Italy’s candidacy.

“Türkiye is a big competitor for Euro 2032 and is currently the favorite over Italy,” Ceferin said while speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, one of Italy’s leading sports newspapers.

“I have talked about this with Italian Football Federation President Gabriele Gravina,” he added.

In the interview, Ceferin highlighted the “stadium problem in Italy.”

“At the moment, there is not even a stadium in Italy that can host the Champions League final. This is something incredible,” the UEFA president said. “I hope the [Italian] federation and the government would understand the importance of this [staduim issue] and take the required steps.”

The UEFA needs more stadium guarantee, Ceferin stated.

On March 23, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced that the official candidacy file was submitted to UEFA for Euro 2028.

While announcing the submission of the file, Servet Yardımcı, then-deputy chairman of TFF, said Türkiye is eyeing hosting Euro 2032, too.

Türkiye has a formidable opponent for Euro 2028. On Jan. 5, the football associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland announced a joint “Ireland and United Kingdom” bid for the Euro 2028. Russia also applied, but its application was suspended due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Euro 2028 will be the 17th UEFA European Championship, which will be held from June to July in 2028.