Euro 2020 Explainer: Challenges Of 11-Country Event

 

After losing a year because of last year’s lockdown regulations, the Euro 2020 kicked off on 11^th June, with Italy facing Turkey in Rome. The finals will be hosted in London on 11^th June, with more countries and cities hosting the matches in between.

Despite being hosted in 2021, the tournament is still known as the Euro 2020 and will be the first major sports event hosted by 11 countries. The 11 cities in different countries hosting the tournament include London (England), Glasgow (Scotland), Seville (Spain), Copenhagen (Denmark), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Budapest (Hungary), Rome (Italy), Bucharest (Romania), Baku (Azerbaijan), Munich (Germany) and St Petersburg (Russia).

Hosting such a huge tournament in different countries comes with a lot of logistical issues, which have been exacerbated by the social distancing regulations. However, there are several reasons why the organizers chose to host the tournament in different countries despite the logistical issues.

Why UEFA Chose To Host The Euro 2020 In 11 Countries

While tournaments being hosted in two or three countries isn’t a new thing, UEFA made the ambitious decision to host the quadrennial event across Europe in 2012.

The plan was to truly make the EURO for Europe, with the administrators envisioning a situation where the Championship is taken to the fans. Fortunately, even for those who won’t have the chance to watch the game in stadiums, Bet9ja promotion code is giving them the chance to make some cash by betting on the games. The largest Nigerian online bookmaker that sponsors the local National League.

Besides taking the games to the fans, the main reason to host the tournament across Europe was to celebrate the tournament’s 60^th anniversary in a grand fashion. Another factor that influenced the decision according to the current FIFA President Gianni Infantino was to take away the financial burden from one country and spread it across Europe.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of hosting the Euro 2020 in 11 countries

It is believed that hosting a major sports tournament welcomes sponsorship money, boosts tourism and revenue from ticket sales, boosting the host country’s economy. However, that’s not always the case.

For countries like England and France which boast of superior infrastructures, hosting such a tournament means more revenue and fewer expenses. Unfortunately, some host countries have suffered major losses after organizing such tournaments.

In 2014, Brazil had to build 12 stadiums to host the World Cup and several of them are not in use now. As a result, the country is still incurring heavy losses trying to maintain these empty stadiums.

According to The Business Insider, the Arena da Amazonia isn’t regularly used nowadays, despite costing Brazil about $300 million to build. The stadium only made $180,000 for the first four months in 2016, while spending over $550,000 in operating costs.

Europe also has several small countries that lack the financial muscle or the infrastructure to hold the Euro Competitions, even when two or three come together. That’s why spreading the hosting burden to several countries comes as a solution, allowing these smaller nations to also take part in the mega tournament.

The tourism incentive of the tournament is also shared with these small countries, helping to boost their economy. However, the biggest disadvantage of doing that is its impact on the players as they’ll have to travel extensively.