Germany beats Turkey for right to host Euro 2024

NYON, Switzerland: Germany on Thursday won the race to host the 2024 European Championship as UEFA backed a bid seen as safer than the rival Turkish proposal.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin announced the winner following a campaign that saw politics and concerns over human rights in Turkey play a central role. “I’d like to thank the UEFA Executive for their incredible confidence and I feel the responsibility — we will do our utmost to live up to expectations,” said German Football Association (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel after the announcement. “We want to put on a huge football festival and show the world how hospitable we are,” said ex-Germany captain Philipp Lahm, who will head the organising committee. UEFA considered that the German bid already had everything in place to host a successful event — from stadiums to infrastructure and hotels.

European football’s governing body has also said it wants to make as much money as possible from the 2024 tournament and Germany was considered the better financial bet. The win also offers a boost to German football after a disastrous 2018 World Cup, when the country failed to qualify for the last 16 — after winning the tournament in 2014.