Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey boasts gleaming new stadiums, one of the most impassioned football fan bases anywhere and has never before hosted one of the world’s greatest sporting events.
For the Turkish leadership, after the bitter blows of seeing Istanbul miss out to Tokyo for the right to host the 2020 Olympics and repeatedly missing out on the European Championship, Turkey is the ideal candidate for Euro 2024.
But, as noted in the evaluation report by UEFA, Turkey’s attempt to beat Germany’s bid is not helped by shortfalls in transport and hotels, an economy that is going through a troubled period and questions over human rights.
AFP looks at the advantages and disadvantages of Turkey’s bid:
ADVANTAGES
– Stadiums –
In an infrastructure drive spearheaded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has seen a spree of stadium-building across the country, with new grounds popping up outside Istanbul from Konya to Trabzon.
Consequently, out of 10 proposed host stadiums, seven are ready now to host Euro matches. The stadium in Antalya requires renovation while only those in Ankara and, crucially, the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul which would host the final, need to be built from scratch.
John McManus, author of the recent book “Welcome to Hell? In Search of the Real Turkish Football”, said that the stadiums built “could host tournament matches tomorrow”, having been constructed “specifically to UEFA guidelines”.
– Symbolism –
Awarding the tournament to Turkey would carry huge symbolism given it would be by far the biggest sporting event ever to be hosted by the majority-Muslim nation.
Turkey, which has unsuccessfully sought to join the European Union for over half a century, repeatedly accuses Europe of showing Islamophobia. But hosting the tournament would give Turkey one of its best ever shop windows, just a year after the 2023 100th anniversary of the founding of the modern state by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
– Passion –
Turkey is, as UEFA’s evaluation report noted, a “passionate footballing nation”. Everyone supports a football side, an affiliation that is usually passed down through generations.
Hosting the Euro in Turkey would help outsiders experience this at first hand. After several years of underperforming, there are signs of improvement in the national side, with a new generation of players emerging, some of whom were born to the diaspora outside Turkey.
DISADVANTAGES
– Transport –
One of the biggest concerns in UEFA’s evaluation report was on transport. While domestic air travel is extremely well developed in Turkey and roads have improved greatly, train infrastructure has long lagged behind elsewhere in Europe.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2xSipph
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