England battle Wales for right to host 2013 event
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Football Association may still be licking their wounds after the dismal failure of their 2018 World Cup bid but next week they will go head to head with Wales to try to secure the 2013 European Under-21 Championships.
Five nations are bidding to host the tournament – Israel, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic are the other hopefuls competing with the two home nations.
The England bid is based around five clubs' stadia – Shrewsbury, Chesterfield, Derby, Notts County and Nottingham Forest – with the final to be played at Wembley.
Wales' bid would have the final at the Millennium Stadium with the other venues for the eight-team tournament being the grounds of Swansea and Cardiff, plus Llanelli's Parc y Scarlets.
If England were to win the bid, it would make life much easier for the FA in terms of preparing a team for the London 2012 Olympics, which has an under-23 limit with three over-age players permitted.
If England are 2013 hosts then they would not need to play in any of the Under-21 qualifying matches and could play a series of Team GB friendlies in preparation for the Olympics. The Football Association of Wales are also bidding to host Fifa's Under-17 and/or Under-20 World Cups in 2015.
The FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford said: "The European Under-21s is probably the biggest tournament that Wales could host on its own. That's in contrast to England – for us this would be a really, really big deal and I see it as part of our strategy to bring to life football is this country."
Uefa's executive committee will make the decision at their meeting on Thursday and Friday next week.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments