England
will at last stage another major football tournament after Wembley was awarded
the final and semi-finals of Euro 2020 in Geneva on Friday.
The UEFA
ExCo voted in favour of Wembley over Munich’s Allianz Arena for the marquee
matches in a tournament being staged in 13 cities across Europe – the
brainchild of UEFA President Michel Platini..
After the
doomed bids to hold the World Cups in 2006 and 2018, this was the first
successful campaign by the FA since the decision in Lisbon 1992 to award Euro
96 to England.
Wembley
Stadium will host the final and semi-finals of Euro 2020 after the English
national stadium saw off competition from Munich's Allianz Arena at a UEFA ExCo
vote in Geneva on Friday
The UEFA
vote for Wembley – held in an eyesore exhibition building in Geneva – was
regarded almost as a foregone conclusion with the big FA party including
England manager Roy Hodgson, FA chairman Greg Dyke and past and present
Ministers of Sport Helen Grant and Kate Hoey, London Mayor Boris Johnson’s
Commissioner for sport.
UEFA
regard Wembley as their favourite stadium on the continent, especially with its
money-making potential from the tier of 17,000 corporate seats. The ground has
hosted UEFA’s flagship Champions League final twice in the last four years.
It was a
complicated secret ballot with the 17-strong voting UEFA executive, which
includes Manchester United director David Gill not involved in any vote
involving their own country.
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