PARIS: The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) have requested to merge their individual bids into one joint bid to host Euro 2032, UEFA said on Friday.

Italy formally submitted a bid in April to host the 2032 European Championship while Turkey also submitted a bid to host the tournament in either 2028 or 2032.

“UEFA will now work with FIGC and TFF to ensure that the documentation to be submitted for their joint bid is compliant with the bidding requirements,” European football’s governing body said in a statement.

“If the joint bid does comply with such requirements, it will be submitted to the UEFA Executive Committee on Oct 10 where the host appointments for 2028 and 2032 will be made.

“Decisions on venues and match schedules will be made at a later stage,” UEFA added

A joint bid to host the 2028 edition has also been placed by England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Decisions on venues and match schedules will be made at a later stage, UEFA said.

The 2028 and 2032 tournaments will feature 24 teams.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2023