Philipp Lahm, Germany’s World Cup winning captain in 2014 and the latest honorary captain of the DFB, made an appearance on Tuesday at the German Football League’s (DFL) traditional New Year reception as the ambassador for Germany’s UEFA EURO 2024 application. By his side was another supporter of the bid in the form of the DFL’s president, Dr. Reinhard Rauball. “The DFL is fully behind the German EURO 2024 bid,” said Rauball at the Palais Thurn and Taxis in Frankfurt. “There’s no question. Every club is behind it.”
Lahm emphasised the opportunities that an event such as a European Championship would create for the whole of German football, and especially at the grassroots level. “Hosting a major tournament brings so much to the country, and young people in particular. I remember how so many youngsters signed up to the football club that my mother was the youth coach for in the wake of the 2006 World Cup. Football brings values of fair play, respect and tolerance together,” said Lahm, who experienced the last major tournament to be held in Germany as a player. “I will always have very special memories of what was a hugely successful World Cup,” added Lahm.
Rauball: “The tournament won’t just be handed to us”
“That was a wonderful speech from our ambassador Philipp Lahm, who knows firsthand what it would mean to hold such a special event in Germany,” said DFB president Reinhard Grindel, who accepted the DFL’s invitation to the event alongside general secretary Dr. Freidrich Curtis, vice president Ronny Zimmermann, Germany’s goalkeeper coach Andreas Köpke, assistant coaches Thomas Schneider and Marcus Sorg as well as the DFB’s managing directors, Heike Ullrich and Oliver Bierhoff. In total, around 370 guests from the worlds of sport, media, politics and economics made the trip to central Frankfurt, on top of representatives from all 32 of the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs.
DFL president Rauball warned that there would be a lot of competition to secure the rights to host UEFA EURO 2024, however, of which the strongest is the Turkish Football Association’s bid. “The tournament won’t just be handed to us. We have to work very hard and convince a lot of people,” said Rauball ahead of the application deadline on 27th April 2018 and the ultimate decision on who will host the tournament in September. Yet the DFL president is not oblivious to the strengths of the German bid. “Germany has everything that is required of a host nation for this sort of large-scale sporting event. We have the necessary infrastructure and the distance between the venues isn’t too much for the fans to have to deal with. The last time we held a European Championship was back in 1988, which is three decades ago now. I would be extremely happy if we were to have the honour again.”
Matthäus: “The whole country benefits from a tournament like this”
Almost forty years have passed since Lothar Matthäus was a European Championship winner with Germany and the ex-captain is also hoping to see another major tournament on home soil. “I’m crossing my fingers in the hope that it all comes together,” said Matthäus. “The whole country benefits from a tournament like this, not just football. The entire world saw in 2006 that the German people know how to celebrate and have a good time, that we have fantastic stadiums and that it’s a very welcoming country. Germany can prove that once again in 2024, if we manage to be successful with our bid.”