London, Dec 7(ANI): The Football Association will bid to host the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley after UEFA announced radical plans on Thursday to stage the tournament in up to 13 cities across the continent.
Wembley will be put forward to host both a semi-final and the final, while Wales and Scotland have also confirmed that they will bid to stage matches.
The Scottish FA said that it would consider offering Hampden Park, Ibrox or Celtic Park in Glasgow as a possible venue for the final.
Wembley, though, has emerged among the early favourites to host the first final of a major international football tournament since it reopened in 2007.
Having been selected to stage the Champions League final later this season, for the second time in three years, Wembley also has the advantage of an immediate platform from which to showcase itself.
"Clearly Wembley is incredibly highly thought of by Uefa and it is something we will push for," the Telegraph quoted David Bernstein, the FA chairman, as saying.
"Uefa want to hold the semi-finals and the final on the same ground, or in the same city, and I think we would be on their shortlist, but there would be some strong competition. The public want it and we'd want it and it would be wonderful to have it here," he added.
Uefa's executive committee took the decision at a meeting in Lausanne on Thursday, despite opposition from Turkey, which had bid to host the tournament alone but is also hoping to stage the Olympics in the same year.
It was stressed that the pan-continental Euro 2020 would be a one-off rather than a model of future events.
The tournament will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the first European Championship and should ease the logistical and financial pressures of staging the event in just one or two countries. (ANI)
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