Munich has been named among 13 host cities for UEFA EURO 2020, European football governing body UEFA announced in Geneva on Friday. The Allianz Arena will play host to three group matches and a quarter-final in six years time. Should Germany qualify for the tournament, they will play two of their group games in front of a home crowd.
Responding to the announcement, DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach said: “We’re very happy and satisfied that UEFA were convinced by our bid and that European Championship football will be returning to Germany in 2020 after 32 years. My thanks go to all those involved with our bid, particularly the Federal Government, the state of Bavaria, the city of Munich, Bayern Munich and the operators of the Allianz Arena.”
Bayern president Hopfner: "We are proud"
Munich’s mayor Dieter Reiter was delighted to see matches awarded to Bavaria’s state capital. “The city of Munich is proud to be hosting a quarter-final and three group matches and thus to be able to represent Germany at this pan-European tournament,” Reiter said. “Munich’s bid was highly praised by UEFA in their evaluation and received the best marks of the 19 candidate cities. After 2006, we can now welcome friends back to Munich.”
Bayern Munich president Karl Hopfner echoed this sentiment, saying: “We’re proud to be one of the 13 venues for EURO 2020 and would like to thank UEFA for believing in our bid. Together with the Federal Government, the Free State of Bavaria, the DFB and the Allianz Arena, we will do everything in our power over the next few years to once again be the perfect hosts for a major footballing event in 2020.”
“We’re pursuing an ambitious goal to host EURO 2024”
In addition to Munich, Baku (Azerbaijan), Brussels (Belgium), Copenhagen (Denmark), Rome (Italy), Bucharest (Romania), Dublin (Republic of Ireland), Bilbao (Spain), Budapest (Hungary), Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Glasgow (Scotland) and St Petersburg (Russia) were named as EURO 2020 venues. The other quarter-finals will be played in Rome, Baku and St Petersburg, while both semi-finals and the final will take place at London’s Wembley Stadium. “We have always said that Wembley Stadium is the perfect setting for the final of this pan-continental European Championship,” said DFB General Secretary Helmut Sandrock. ‘We would therefore like to congratulate our colleagues at The FA in England and look forward to the three matches at Wembley.”
The DFB initially submitted a bid to host the final package of matches in Munich, but withdrew this application during Friday’s meeting in favour of London and to avoid a crucial vote by UEFA’s Executive Committee. “We will continue to pursue our main target of hosting the whole of EURO 2024, and I am definitely optimistic that we can achieve this aim,” Sandrock continued. “But it is by no means certain that our bid will be accepted. We still have a lot of homework to do together with government, cities and venues before the decision is made in 2017.”
