Story highlights
Germany wins right to host Euro 2024
UEFA members voted at the organization's HQ, Switzerland
Competition will be held in June 2024
Germany has won the right to host the 2024 European Football Championships – fending off competition from Turkey.
Seventeen UEFA executive committee members voted in favor of the German bid at the organization’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
The decision is another blow to Turkey’s dreams of hosting a major sporting event. It has previously failed bids to host Euro 2008, 2012 and 2016 and the 2020 Olympic Games.
The 2024 edition will see a return to the tournament’s traditional format, with Euro 2020 being hosted in 12 different cities across the continent, to mark 60 years of the competition.
Human rights an issue
Germany had been heavy favorites ahead of Thursday’s vote after positive recommendations in a UEFA report released last week. In contrast, the report found issues concerning the Turkish bid.
Europe’s governing body put human rights at the forefront of the bidding process for the first time, implementing a clause which stipulated that the host country should “culturally embed human rights.”
in its evaluation report UEFA highlighted the “lack of an action plan in the area of human rights” as a concern in the Turkish bid.
Re-elected Turkish President in June 2018, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been heavily criticized for failing to protect women’s and human rights, as well as curbing freedom of speech following the failed coup attempt in 2016, when thousands were arrested during the state of emergency.
Meanwhile, the German bid was considered to meet overall expectations in regards to “political aspects, social responsibility and human rights.”
Visit cnn.com/sport for more news and videos
Turkey has also never hosted a major sporting event. Their bid involved significant investment in rebuilding and renovating the 10 proposed stadiums. There were also concerns over the country’s ability to cater for the expected influx in fans.
In comparison, Germany’s bid needed minimal investment, with infrastructure in already place, along with stadiums that could immediately stage the tournament
Hosting the tournament in Germany will also be financially beneficial for UEFA. The German bid can boast 300,000 more tickets for sale, providing more opportunity for revenue.
The country has previously hosted the World Cup in 2006 and and as West Germany the World Cup in 1972 and also Euro 1988.
The announcement is a boost for German football after the national team’s embarrassing group stage exit at the 2018 World Cup.
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018
There had been controversy between the two bidding nations in the run up to the vote, involving Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil.
Ozil accused the German FA (DFB) of racism after his retirement from international football in July.
The former German international, with Turkish parents, pointed to Germany Football Assocation (DFB) chief Reinhard Grindel as the catalyst.
“I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,” said Ozil.
The comments looked to have harmed the DFB’s reputation, especially after their “bungled” response was widely criticized.
Subsequently Grindel has since expressed his regret for not dealing with the issue better.
“I could have taken a clearer position at some points and stood by Mesut Ozil. I should have been clear with my words. Such attacks are completely unacceptable,” Grindel said.