OMEN
02-13-2009, 02:24 PM
France will submit a bid to host Euro 2016, the country's football federation confirmed today.
A statement on the FFF's website said a letter would be sent to UEFA, European football's governing body, before March 9 to rubber-stamp the bid.
'The FFF is definitely a candidate. It is a candidate to win,' read the statement.
The organisation of Euro 2016 is a massive project for the whole of French football. It provides a great opportunity to completely modernise the grounds of our major stadia.
'It gives the whole of football, professional and amateur, a project to aim towards for the decade to come.
'The candidacy which has been made official today cannot only be that of the FFF - it must be that of the whole country.'
There had been talk of a joint bid with Italy but FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes told L'Equipe: 'We are going to go it alone and with the aim of winning.'
The last major tournament hosted by France was the 1998 World Cup, which they went on to win.
RTE
A statement on the FFF's website said a letter would be sent to UEFA, European football's governing body, before March 9 to rubber-stamp the bid.
'The FFF is definitely a candidate. It is a candidate to win,' read the statement.
The organisation of Euro 2016 is a massive project for the whole of French football. It provides a great opportunity to completely modernise the grounds of our major stadia.
'It gives the whole of football, professional and amateur, a project to aim towards for the decade to come.
'The candidacy which has been made official today cannot only be that of the FFF - it must be that of the whole country.'
There had been talk of a joint bid with Italy but FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes told L'Equipe: 'We are going to go it alone and with the aim of winning.'
The last major tournament hosted by France was the 1998 World Cup, which they went on to win.
RTE