Russia have reportedly launched a surprise bid to host Euro 2032, amid concerns raised about Italy’s cstadiums for the tournament.
In seven years, the 2032 UEFA Men’s European Football Championship (Euro) will be held across Italy and Turkey. However, it has recently been reported that there are growing concerns regarding Italy’s stadiums.
According to Daily Mail, there are ‘fears that Italian stadiums will not be ready amid concerns over ageing infrastructure’.
With reports claiming Italy might not be ready to host the tournament, it has been claimed that Russia have put themselves in the running to take over as one of the host nations.
President of the Italian Football Federation Gabriele Gravina (L) and President of the Turkish Football Federation Mehmet Büyükeki during the UEFA EURO 2028 & 2032 Host Announcement. (Photo by Kristian Skeie – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
According to Italian news outlet Gazzetta dello Sport, Moscow Football Federation President Alexander Dyukov said to Russian website Sport.ru: “Italy has a stadium problem. If they lose their stadium organisation, we’re here. Russia is ready to host Euro 2032 instead of Italy.”
It has been suggested that only one of the 10 proposed stadiums in Italy has been approved by UEFA.
This latest report will come as a huge surprise to football fans with Russian national teams and clubs currently suspended from all UEFA and FIFA tournaments.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both UEFA and FIFA suspended Russian national teams and clubs from all competitions. Russia launched six appeals against the decision, but all were dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
Last month, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin spoke about the ongoing ban.
He said to POLITICO: “The ban for Russian teams is, I think, three and a half years. Did the war stop? It didn’t. So for now, I don’t know. I have to say that with the situation in Russia and Ukraine, there was a super strong political pressure.
“Now it’s more a pressure of the civil society than politicians, because politicians are obviously, when it comes to wars and victims, very pragmatic. I cannot say what will happen. There are talks about everything, but me personally, I’m against kicking the athletes out.”
