Germany named hosts of Euro 2024 by Uefa at the expense of Turkey
The decision means Germany will host the tournament for the first time as a unified nation
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Your support makes all the difference.Germany have been awarded the right to host the 2024 European Championship by Uefa ahead of a rival bid from Turkey.
Both bid teams made their final presentations to Uefa in Nyon on Thursday morning before the executive committee voted in favour of Germany, who will host the tournament for the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 - though the country also staged the 2006 World Cup.
Ahead of the vote, an evaluation report by Uefa warned that awarding the tournament to Turkey carried risks, citing the country's lack of an action plan in the area of human rights, limited hotel capacity in many cities and the scale of transport infrastructure work required as matters "of concern".
In contrast, Germany presented their bid as a "safe bet" for Uefa, and claimed that hosting the 2024 tournament will aid their broader purpose of "creating a bridge between elite and grassroots football".
Reacting to the announcement alongside German Football Federation (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel and World Cup-winning bid ambassador Philipp Lahm, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said: "The procedure was transparent, the voting was democratic, and every democratic decision is the right decision. I'm looking forward to a fantastic Euro 2024."
The competition between Germany and Turkey to host Euro 2024 intensified due to the heightened political tensions between the countries, which spilled into football this summer with the angry reaction to the decision of Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan to be photographed with controversial Turkish president Recep Erdogan prior to the World Cup.
Ozil retired from Germany duty immediately following the country's humiliating group-stage exit in Russia, announcing his decision with an explosive statement that accused DFB president Grindel and wider German society of subjecting him to "racism and disrespect" during the fallout to the team's elimination.
Germany coach Joachim Low dismissed Ozil's complaints as "exaggerated", while the Arsenal star was also publicly criticised by former international teammates Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos.
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