Today the Italian Football Federation FICG has delivered UEFA the dossier for the application of Rome and the Olympic Stadium as locations for EURO 2020, the European Football Championships which in 6 years will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a tournament travelling through 13 cities of the continent. The Italian application, which has received full support from the Government, from the capital city of Rome, from CONI and all the components of FIGC, has the aim to be assigned the matches of the first round and a direct elimination match in the quarterfinals or the last sixteen.
The dossier, coordinated by federal Vicepresident Demetrio Albertini, has as strenght points the tradition of Italian football; the universal value of Rome and extraordinary locations available for team supporters taking part in the events; the role of Italy and Rome in the process of European unification; the favourable geographical position of the country; the quality of Italian reception and the accommodation capacity of Rome with its variety of comfort typologies; the fascination of Olympic Stadium and the functionality of its organization, as shown in numerous national and international events.
In addition, the appreciation expressed by public opinion is also positive, as it has emerged from a survey commissioned to Doxa, according to which 77,2% of people interviewed appreciate the new format of the event and 73% agrees on the choice to host part of the matches in Italy.
FIGC president Giancarlo Abete has commented: “We have the ambition to make Italy and Rome a key value for ‘EURO for Europe’; this country and its capital city represent in our opinion the best point of reference to develop all the potentials of the event and reach the objectives given by EUFA fully. With the application of Rome we would like this tournament to be the greatest homage to Europe sport history can remember.”
Albertini has added to this: “After two applications which have not been successful, we have worked to prepare a completely different dossier, which we honestly think it is capable of winning. We have tried to involve in a very short time all the players, starting from the Government to Rome capital administration, keeping also in contact with the municipality of Milan in order to coordinate together the application for the Champions 2016 final. I am very proud to have been the manager of a team – fully Italian and exclusively made up of people from FIGC – which has been able to elaborate a complex and innovative document.”
The Italian dossier, with a total of 120 pages, is composed of 13 chapters, 10 additional documents, 17 warranties, 3 contracts, 1 survey, 20 maps, 6 tables. The logo illustrating the application has been created by the couple Blue and Joy, two Italian artists very appreciated abroad as well, who have testified the energy and vitality of our country and of Italian football. UEFA will choose the 13 locations of EURO 2020 in the meeting of its Executive Committee expected on the 19th of September.
