Euro 2008 hopefuls present plans

GENEVA (AP) -- Seven hopefuls appeared before soccer chiefs Wednesday to present their case to host the 2008 European Championship.

A joint bid by Austria and Switzerland and a proposal from four Nordic nations are front-runners, with the Scotland-Ireland bid also seen as a strong contender. Russia and Hungary have each made individual bids, while Croatia is applying jointly with Bosnia-Herzegovina and longtime-enemies Greece and Turkey also have submitted a bid together.

The decision will be announced Thursday in Geneva, probably early in the afternoon.

Members of UEFA's executive and national teams committees were cloistered in the body's lakeside headquarters, which was closed to the public and the media. The bidders were only allowed to stay in the building for the time it took to make their 15-minute presentations and answer questions.

"It wasn't easy for us. It was a real challenge," Austrian-Swiss bid coordinator Thomas Helbling later told reporters.

Swiss soccer association head Ralph Zloczower remained cautious about the two nations' chances.

"We've never said we're the favorites. It's other people who say that. The race is totally open," he said.

The final decision will be taken by the Executive Committee. Members from bidding countries are ineligible to vote, meaning the decision will fall to eight men -- though others may rejoin the discussions once their own countries' bids are eliminated.

The bidding process has attracted the interest of many smaller countries, who believe that by joining together they can host an event that would otherwise be beyond their capacities.

"We think that very few countries in Europe can organize this alone," said Karen Espelund, general secretary of the Norwegian Football Association. Norway is one of the countries involved in the Nordic bid. "For political reasons and for organizational reasons, more parts of Europe should be able to organize it."

The three bids from Eastern Europe also are hoping that political considerations will play a part in UEFA's decision. They point out that in the past 20 years all major soccer tournaments on the continent have taken place in Western Europe, while Portugal already is designated as host of Euro 2004 and Germany will have the World Cup finals in 2006.

"It is no secret that the traditional markets for football have maybe reached their potential. In any other business that would be the time when you start to think about investment in new regions," said Lars Haue-Pedersen, spokesman for the Hungarian bid.

But small countries in the West also are looking for a chance.

"It is a major effort for small countries like Scotland and Ireland to be on an international stage competing for what is effectively the world's third-largest sports event," said David Taylor, chairman of the Scotland-Ireland bid committee, who made his presentation in a kilt accompanied by a piper.

The small bidders also are aware that this may be the last chance for them to compete among themselves to host the European Championship. With the World Cup finals unlikely to return to Europe before 2022 at the earliest, major soccer nations such as Spain may consider making bids for future European events, while Russia likely will learn from its experience this time and present an improved bid in the future.

 

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