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With the expansion to 24 teams, middle-ranked countries have a much greater chance of qualifying for the finals than earlier.
With the expansion to 24 teams, middle-ranked countries have a much greater chance of qualifying for the finals than earlier.


With Gibralter's acceptance into FIFA, 54 teams will chase 23 finals places to join hosts [[France national football team|France]]. The seeding pots would be formed on the basis of the [[UEFA coefficient|UEFA national team coefficient]]s, finalised after the completion of [[2014 FIFA World Cup qualification|2014 World Cup qualification]], with the [[UEFA Euro 2012|Euro 2012]] champions automatically top seeded.
With Gibralter's acceptance into UEFA, 54 teams will chase 23 finals places to join hosts [[France national football team|France]]. The seeding pots would be formed on the basis of the [[UEFA coefficient|UEFA national team coefficient]]s, finalised after the completion of [[2014 FIFA World Cup qualification|2014 World Cup qualification]], with the [[UEFA Euro 2012|Euro 2012]] champions automatically top seeded.


Russia will play three home games without spectators in the qualifying round of Euro 2016 for fan violence during UEFA Euro 2012.<ref name="Russia appeal">{{cite news |title=UEFA Appeals body lightens punishment for Russian team |url=http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_10/UEFA-Appeals-body-lightens-punishment-for-Russian-team |date=10 August 2012 |accessdate=12 August 2012}}</ref>
Russia will play three home games without spectators in the qualifying round of Euro 2016 for fan violence during UEFA Euro 2012.<ref name="Russia appeal">{{cite news |title=UEFA Appeals body lightens punishment for Russian team |url=http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_10/UEFA-Appeals-body-lightens-punishment-for-Russian-team |date=10 August 2012 |accessdate=12 August 2012}}</ref>

Revision as of 04:34, 12 August 2013

UEFA Euro 2016
Championnat d'Europe de football 2016 Template:Fr icon
Logo of UEFA Euro 2016
Tournament details
Host countryFrance
Dates10 June – 10 July 2016[1][2]
Teams24
Venue(s)10 (in 9 host cities)
2012
2020

The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2016, will be the 15th European Championship for national football teams organised by UEFA. It will be held in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016.

For the first time the 2016 finals will be a 24 team tournament, having been expanded from the 16 team format that had been used since 1996.[3] At the finals, it's proposed that teams will be eliminated using a new format of 6 groups of 4, followed by 3 knockout rounds, followed by the final. As hosts, France do not need to qualify for the finals; 53 teams will compete in the qualification process that runs from September 2014 to November 2015 for the 23 other places, including back-to-back defending champions Spain, the 2012 and 2008 winners, and for the first time since their affiliation with UEFA, Gibraltar.

France was chosen as the host on 28 May 2010. In the bidding process, France beat Italy and Turkey for the right to host the finals.[4][5] The matches will be played in 10 stadia, four in the north of the country in Lens, Lille and Paris (2), and six in the south in Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and St-Etienne. It will be the third time France has hosted the tournament, following the inaugural 1960 finals and the 1984 finals. France are two-time winners of the championship, winning as hosts 1984, as well as the 2000 tournament.

The winner of the tournament will earn the right to compete for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Russia.

Bid process

Four bids came before the deadline at 9 March 2009 which were France, Italy and Turkey as single bids each, plus Norway and Sweden as a joint bid.[6] Norway and Sweden eventually withdrew their bid in December 2009.[7]

The host was selected on 28 May 2010:[8]

Voting results

Country Vote
1st 2nd
France France 65 7
Turkey Turkey 38 6
Italy Italy 23
Total Votes 126 13

Decision controversy

There was controversy concerning the decision to give the Euro 2016 to France over Turkey. After the decision was announced, responding to the question "During Sepp Blatter's term Euro 2008 was awarded to Switzerland, during your term Euro 2016 is awarded to France, is this the new trend?" Michel Platini said "When there is a Turkish president, then you can host a major tournament".[9]

Guus Hiddink, who was Turkey manager at the time, was also highly critical of the decision, stating: "This proves once again that in top-flight football the game is run by politics", and "UEFA gave the Euro 2016 finals to France, who have already had the tournament twice and they also had the World Cup finals in 1998. This does not feel right. I get the feeling that the actual bid was about other things. Otherwise the choice for France as hosting nation, the country of UEFA president Platini, cannot be explained."[10]

The bidding and the decision process took place on Friday, one day after French player Marc Planus suggested that "they have already known".[11][12]

Before the bidding process, Platini introduced then French president Nicolas Sarkozy to every member of the decision committee in person, while he did not do the same for the Turkish president Abdullah Gül. After the decision Platini concluded: "I'm happy because France has won, and I'm French — let's not forget it."[13]

Expanded format

To accommodate the expansion from a 16 team finals tournament to 24 teams, it's been proposed that the format be changed from that used in 2012 with the addition of two extra groups in the group stage, and an extra round in the knockout stages. The six groups (A to F) would still contain four teams each, with the top two from each group still going through to the knockout stage. In the new format however, the four best third-ranked sides would also progress, to leave 16 teams going into the new round of 16 knockout stage, ahead of the usual quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.[14]

This format generates a total of 51 to 52 games, compared with 31, to be played over a period of 29 to 31 days. UEFA's general secretary Gianni Infantino has described proposed format as "not ideal" due to the need for third place group stage winners, leading to a difficulty in preventing situations where teams might be able to know in advance what results they need to progress out of the group, lending to a lack of suspense for fans, or even the prospect of mutually beneficial collusion between teams.[14]

Qualification

The qualifying matches will start in September 2014.[1] With the expansion to 24 teams, middle-ranked countries have a much greater chance of qualifying for the finals than earlier.

With Gibralter's acceptance into UEFA, 54 teams will chase 23 finals places to join hosts France. The seeding pots would be formed on the basis of the UEFA national team coefficients, finalised after the completion of 2014 World Cup qualification, with the Euro 2012 champions automatically top seeded.

Russia will play three home games without spectators in the qualifying round of Euro 2016 for fan violence during UEFA Euro 2012.[15]

UEFA has not confirmed the format for the qualification, but Gianni Infantino stated in March 2012 that UEFA would review the qualification competition to ensure that it was not "boring".[14] In September 2011, during UEFA's first ever full strategy meeting, Michel Platini proposed a qualification format involving two group stages, but the proposal wasn't accepted by the member associations.[16] In May 2013, Platini confirmed a similar qualifying format will be again discussed during the September 2013 UEFA executive committee meeting, set to take place in Dubrovnik.[17]

Qualified teams

Country Qualified as Date qualification was secured Previous appearances in tournament12
 France Hosts 28 May 2010 8 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italic indicates host for that year

Venues

Initially, twelve stadia were presented for the French bid, chosen on 28 May 2010. These venues were to be whittled down to nine by the end of May 2011, but it was suggested in June 2011 that eleven venues might be used.[18] The French Football Federation had to choose which nine stadia would actually be used. The choice for the first seven was undisputed – France's national stadium, the Stade de France, four newly constructed stadia in Lille, Lyon, Nice and Bordeaux, and those of the biggest cities, Paris and Marseille. The last two remaining places, after Strasbourg opted out for financial reasons following relegation,[19] were chosen to be Lens and Nancy in the first round of voting, instead of Saint-Étienne and Toulouse, chosen as reserve stadia. In June 2011, the number of host venues was increased to eleven because of the new tournament format which sees 24 teams taking part, instead of just 16.[20][21] The decision means that the reserve cities of Toulouse and St-Étienne joined the list of hosts. However, in December 2011, Nancy announced its withdrawal from the tournament, after the stadium's renovation fell through,[22] so ten host cities will now be used. Nantes and Montpellier, stadia used for the 1998 World Cup, were also not chosen. The final list of the ten venues was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee on 25 January 2013.[23]

Saint-Denis 2 5 Marseille 1 2 3 4 Lyon 1 2 4 5 Lille
Stade de France Stade Vélodrome Stade des Lumières Stade Pierre Mauroy
48°55′28″N 2°21′36″E / 48.92444°N 2.36000°E / 48.92444; 2.36000 (Stade de France) 43°16′11″N 5°23′45″E / 43.26972°N 5.39583°E / 43.26972; 5.39583 (Stade Vélodrome) 45°45′56″N 4°58′52″E / 45.76556°N 4.98111°E / 45.76556; 4.98111 (Stade des Lumières) 50°36′43″N 3°07′50″E / 50.61194°N 3.13056°E / 50.61194; 3.13056 (Stade Pierre Mauroy)
Capacity: 80,000 Capacity: 65,500
(upgraded)
Capacity: 58,000
(new stadium)
Capacity: 50,186
File:Stade de France 2005.jpg
Paris 1 2 3 4
Parc des Princes
48°50′29″N 2°15′11″E / 48.84139°N 2.25306°E / 48.84139; 2.25306 (Parc des Princes)
Capacity: 47,000
(upgraded)
Bordeaux 1 2
Stade Bordeaux-Atlantique
44°53′50″N 0°33′43″W / 44.89722°N 0.56194°W / 44.89722; -0.56194 (Bordeaux)
Capacity: 42,052
(new stadium)
File:Grand stade Bordeaux maquette4.jpg
Saint-Étienne 2 4 5 Nice Lens 2 4 Toulouse 1 2
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Allianz Riviera Stade Félix-Bollaert Stadium Municipal
45°27′39″N 4°23′24″E / 45.46083°N 4.39000°E / 45.46083; 4.39000 (St Etienne) 43°42′25″N 7°11′40″E / 43.70694°N 7.19444°E / 43.70694; 7.19444 (Nice) 50°25′58.26″N 2°48′53.47″E / 50.4328500°N 2.8148528°E / 50.4328500; 2.8148528 (Lens) 43°34′59″N 1°26′3″E / 43.58306°N 1.43417°E / 43.58306; 1.43417 (Toulouse)
Capacity: 41,965
(upgraded)
Capacity: 35,624
(new stadium)
Capacity: 35,200(upgraded) Capacity: 33,000
(upgraded)
File:Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.jpg File:Allianz Riviera Vue Est 280613.jpg

Note: Capacity figures are those for matches at UEFA Euro 2016 and are not necessarily the total capacity that the stadium is capable of holding.

^1 – Host city at the 1938 World Cup
^2 – Host city at the 1998 World Cup
^3 – Host city at the 1960 European Nations' Cup
^4 – Host city at Euro 1984
^5 – Host city at the 2003 Confederations Cup
^6 – All capacities are approximate

Draw ceremonies

The qualifying draw will take place at the Palais des Congres Acropolis in Nice on 23 February 2014.[2]
The draw for the finals will take place at the Palais des Congrès de la Porte Maillot in Paris on 11 December 2015.[1][2]

The official logo was launched in Paris on 26 June 2013.[24] The theme of the design is 'Celebrating the art of football' and it was conceived by Brandia Central.[25]

Broadcasting

The International Broadcast Centre (IBC) will be located at the Parc des Expositions at la Porte de Versailles in Paris.[2]

Sponsorship

Global sponsors

References

  1. ^ a b c "UEFA EURO 2016: key dates and milestones". UEFA.com. 1 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "UEFA EURO 2016 steering group meets in Paris". UEFA.com. 23 October 2012.
  3. ^ "UEFA approves 24-team Euro from 2016". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 September 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  4. ^ Chaplin, Mark (12 December 2008). "2016 bidding process given green light". UEFA.com. Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  5. ^ "France beat Turkey and Italy to stage Euro 2016". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  6. ^ "Four candidates signal UEFA Euro 2016 interest". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Regeringen säger nej till EM 2016-ansökan". Swedish Football Association (in Swedish). 9 December 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  8. ^ "France chosen to host Euro 2016". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Platini'den Şok Açıklama: Sıradaki Başkan Türk Olursa Siz De Kazanabilirsiniz". Haber Vitrini (in Turkish). 28 May 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  10. ^ Draper, Rob (30 May 2010). "Guus Hiddink slams UEFA decision to grant France Euro 2016 ahead of Turkey". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  11. ^ Hervé, Mathieu (29 May 2010). "Organisation de l'Euro 2016 en France: la boulette du Bordelais Marc Planus?". Sud-Ouest (in French). Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  12. ^ Lille, Fred (29 May 2010). "Lapsus de Marc Planus: les Bleus savaient-ils dès jeudi que l'Euro 2016 serait organisé en France?". Le Post (in French). Archived from the original on 31 May 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  13. ^ Hughes, Rob (1 June 2010). "Soccer Gets Out the Vote, the Presidential Way". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  14. ^ a b c Ziegler, Martyn (28 March 2012). "Uefa admit expansion of European Championships to 24 teams 'not ideal'". The Independent. London: Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  15. ^ "UEFA Appeals body lightens punishment for Russian team". 10 August 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  16. ^ "EURO 2016 qualifying: Platini's plan". Football-Rankings.info. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  17. ^ "EURO 2016: UEFA looking to change qualifying format". Football-Rankings.info. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  18. ^ "France To Host Euro 2016 at Eleven Venues". Supersport. Reuters. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  19. ^ "Strasbourg se rétracte". Sport24 (in French). 29 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ Bisson, Mark (17 June 2011). "France gets go-ahead to stage Euro 2016 in 11 host cities". World Football Insider. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  21. ^ "France to host Euro 2016 at 11 venues". Reuters. Dawn. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  22. ^ "Nancy renonce à accueillir l'Euro 2016". Agence France-Presse (in French). Le Monde. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Executive Committee confirms EURO 2016 venues". UEFA.com. 25 January 2013.
  24. ^ "UEFA EURO 2016 logo Launch" (PDF). UEFA.com. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  25. ^ "UEFA EURO 2016 logo unveiled". UEFA.com. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  26. ^ UEFA. "Carlsberg signs as Official Sponsor for UEFA national team competitions". UEFA.com. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  27. ^ "Coca-Cola signs for Euro 2012, 2016". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 22 February 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  28. ^ "Continental to sponsor Euro 2012 and 2016". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  29. ^ "Hyundai-Kia joins as official sponsor for UEFA Euro 2012™ and UEFA Euro 2016™". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  30. ^ "McDonald's signed up as official Euro sponsor". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  31. ^ "Sponsorship deal with SOCAR". UEFA.com. Retrieved 31 July 2013.

External links