In the short circuit generated by the Russian invasion in Ukraine with the strong reactions decided by the sports institutions towards the Federations, the Nationals and the clubs of Moscow, Russia’s willingness to present its candidacy for the organization of Euro 2028 emerged. of Euro 2032. For the 2028 edition, the United Kingdom and Ireland have already announced their joint candidacy and today Turkey has again expressed its intention to host the event. For 2032, on the other hand, Italy should stand as a candidate.
The candidacy for the European Championship
A decision taken at a meeting of the Executive Committee by the Russian Football Association, which was not formally suspended by UEFA, despite the ban on Russian teams, on 22 March. The announcement came from the president of the RFU, Alexander Dyukov: «We have until April 12, 2023 to apply. We will send the mission statement shortly. Our federation is well prepared to host large-scale competitions, we have a wealth of successful experience in conducting competitions at the highest level. Of course, we are ready to use our stadiums built for the World Cup ». As for the sporting ban, and not only, Dyukov who as president of the Russian Football Federation still sits on the UEFA Executive Committee, explained that “we are in dialogue with FIFA and Uefa and I communicate with them regularly. We assume that the suspension of our teams is short-term, the situation is evolving and at the moment we have time and there will be more information in May. We hope that stabilization will happen by that time, and that a decision will be made on our recovery in the near future. Moreover, Uefa is not taking active action against me, who am a member of the Executive Committee: it is important ».
Uefa’s position
Dyukov, who is the CEO of a subsidiary of Gazprom, a sponsor that Uefa has instead blocked, added: «We must take the opportunity to host the European Championship. It will be in the stadiums of the World Cup, we have already developed the infrastructure. We are submitting the statement today. We think Russia is ready to host large-scale competitions. We have the experience. We reserve the right to submit an offer. This option costs nothing. And they cannot refuse it ». Russia actually hosted the 2018 World Cup and the final venue, Luzhniki Stadium, was used last week for a rally in support of President Vladimir Putin.
Uefa, which is considering expanding the tournament to 32 teams, will provide the tournament requirements to countries wishing to apply next Wednesday, March 30, and then confirm the applications on April 5. The deadline for presenting the final dossiers is however April 2023, with the decision of the Uefa Executive Committee for the host venue which will arrive in September 2023. “It’s not a joke – he insisted Rustem Saymanovgeneral manager of Rubin Kazan and member of the executive committee of the Russian Football Federation – Life goes on with us, we are open and ready »adding that he does not want to« close to Uefa or Fifa ».
Abramovich
Meanwhile, according to Turkish media Fanatic, Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch whose Chelsea assets have been frozen by the European Union and the British government, is close to buying a new club. In particular, the clan of the Russian entrepreneur would have started negotiations for the acquisition of the Goztepe currently in 18th place in the Turkish Super League out of 20 teams. In the meantime, there are more than 30 offers for the purchase of Chelsea. Which made the selection of the potential new owner of the Blues much more complex than expected. Raine Group, the US bank that deals with the sale, must reduce the list to three candidates and then submit one of the proposals to the government for approval. The Guardian reported that this is expected to happen by the end of the week.