Russia Launch Shock Bid to Replace Italy as Euro 2032 Host Despite UEFA Ban
Russia have reportedly launched a surprise bid to host Euro 2032, amid concerns raised about Italy's candidacy.
In seven years, the 2032 UEFA Men’s European Football Championship (Euro) will be held across Italy and Turkey.
However, it has recently been reported that there are growing concerns regarding Italy's stadiums.
As per the Daily Mail, there are 'fears that Italian stadiums will not be ready amid concerns over ageing infrastructure'.
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Amid the concerns surrounding Italy's stadiums, it has been claimed that Russia have put themselves in the running to take over as one of the host nations.
According to Italian news outlet Gazzetta dello Sport, Moscow Football Federation President Alexander Dyukov said to Russian website Sport.ru: "Italy has a stadium problem. If they lose their stadium organisation, we're here. Russia is ready to host Euro 2032 instead of Italy."
It has been suggested that only one of the 10 proposed stadiums in Italy has been approved by UEFA.
SPORTbible has contacted the Italian Football Federation for comment.
However, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both UEFA and FIFA suspended Russian national teams and clubs from all competitions. Russia launched six appeals against the decision, but all were dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
Back in August, the president of the Italian league's governing body, Ezio Simonelli, spoke about his concerns that the country could be stripped of its hosting rights.
He said: "I'm really worried about Euro 2032. Is the candidacy at risk? I hope it's just my concern, but when the president of UEFA says that our stadiums are in a comatose state and the Euros are in six years' time, we risk not making a very good impression on an international level.
"It's a shame, however, that, beyond Udine, Bergamo and Turin, the rest of our stadiums are in a comatose state. Ceferin has strongly criticised Italian stadiums and I agree with him."
What has UEFA said about Russia's ban?
Last month, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin spoke about the ongoing ban.
He said to POLITICO: "The ban for Russian teams is, I think, three and a half years. Did the war stop? It didn’t. So for now, I don’t know. I have to say that with the situation in Russia and Ukraine, there was a super strong political pressure.
"Now it’s more a pressure of the civil society than politicians, because politicians are obviously, when it comes to wars and victims, very pragmatic. I cannot say what will happen. There are talks about everything, but me personally, I’m against kicking the athletes out."
Marcus Chan