Euro 2016: Will it be held in Turkey?

If UEFA's recent policy on supporting countries that invest in Football continues, there's no reason for Turkey not to be granted to host the Euro 2016 campaign. The other bids: Sweden-Norway, Italy, and France have good chances too. Especially the Scandinavian duo seems to be the luckiest bidder at this point.

Turkey has a couple of good stadiums in good shape:

In Istanbul,

Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadium (81000 seats)

Sukru Saracoglu Stadium (51000 seats)

Turk Telekom Arena (tbc 2010, expected 52000 seats)

Inonu Stadium (32000 seats)

in Kayseri:

Kadir Has Stadium (32000)



Also, it's been recently announced that Trabzon, Antalya, and Izmir will be getting new stadiums.

Here's the CNN International news link:


(CNN) -- European football powerhouses France and Italy will battle it out to host the European Championships in 2016 and also face competition from Turkey and a joint bid from Norway and Sweden.

The four bids were submitted to UEFA before the official deadline of midnight on Monday and a final decision will be made in May next year.

Italy also bid for Euro 2012, which is to be joint-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, while France will hope the presence of Michel Platini as UEFA president will work in their favor.

Turkey have never hosted a major football finals, while Norway and Sweden have joined together to attempt to bring the championship finals back to Scandinavia.

The Euro 2016 finals will see the number of qualifying teams increased from 16 to 24, a move which contributed to the decision of Scotland and Wales to end their interest in staging a joint bid because of the increased level of infrastructure required.

Italy last held the European championships in 1980 and France were hosts in 1984.

UEFA said in a statement issued on its Web site on Tuesday:

"France, Italy, and Turkey have informed UEFA they wish to submit a single bid, while a joint bid will be presented by Norway/Sweden.

"UEFA will now review the eligibility of the interested candidates, based on the various technical requirements relating to the potential infrastructure needed as well as any previous experience of the relevant member associations, cities and venues in organizing multi-venue sports events, before confirming the official list of bidders."

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/football/03/10/uefa.bids/