Man City take huge step towards hosting UEFA Euro 2028 matches

Manchester City's bid to hold Euro 2028 matches has been given a big boost as the UK and Ireland look set to be unopposed in the contest to host the UEFA tournament.

Originally the FAs of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland had received competition from Turkey to host the European Championships. However, in a statement on Friday, UEFA announced the UK and Ireland's rival had submitted a request to merge their bid with Italy for the 2032 tournament.

With the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) now withdrawing from the contest to host the 2028 competition, UK and Ireland are now the only bid left in the competition for 2028. Announcing Turkey and Italy's decision, a UEFA statement read: "In 2021, UEFA initiated a bidding process for the hosting of two consecutive editions of its European Championship, in 2028 and 2032.

"TFF entered the process for both editions, while FIGC decided to bid only for the 2032 edition. A joint bid to host the 2028 edition has also been placed by five associations: England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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"UEFA will now work with FIGC and TFF to ensure that the documentation to be submitted for their joint bid is compliant with the bidding requirements. If the joint bid does comply with such requirements, it will be submitted to the UEFA Executive Committee at the meeting scheduled on October 10, where the appointments for 2028 and 2032 will be made. Decisions on venues and match schedules will be made at a later stage."

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