UEFA Euro 2008 bids


The bidding process for UEFA Euro 2008 ended on 12 December 2002, when a joint bid from Austria and Switzerland was selected as the host.

History

By June 2002, seven bids representing twelve countries were formally submitted:
On 12 December 2002, UEFA's National Teams Committee made a recommendation based on technical evaluation of the six candidates and concluded that only four bids had the capability of organising the tournament, ranked as follows:
Later that day, members of the UEFA Executive Committee voted on the bids, and chose Austria–Switzerland as the winning bid.

Bids

Austria–Switzerland

and Switzerland were selected to be the hosts of Euro 2008. The stadia named in the bid process were:
Eight venues in eight cities in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were proposed to host Euro 2008 matches. According to Croatian football executive Ivan Brleković, the stadiums could have been renovated, with a promised 50 million euros investment earmarked by both countries' governments, while more funding had been secured, for upgrading road infrastructure linking host cities.
;Croatia
;Bosnia and Herzegovina
Seven stadia in seven cities in Greece and Turkey were proposed to host Euro 2008 matches. Turkey set a budget of €50 million for the competition to construct a new stadium in Antalya and €25 million to improve the Atatürk Stadium in İzmir. Greece had a budget of €50 million for stadium construction.
Four Nordic countries had submitted a joint bid titled Nordic 2008. Eight venues selected for the bid included capitals of all four nations: The bid was announced in October 2001.
In June 2000, the SFA refused to rule out a four way bid consisting Scotland–Northern Ireland–Wales–Republic of Ireland. In July 2000, David Taylor announced the bid would enhance if England failed to secure the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
On 6 July 2000, England was eliminated from the second round of voting for the host of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. In February 2002, the Scottish Football Association, and the Football Association of Ireland, officially confirmed their joint bid to host the 2008 European Championship.
SFA's chief executive David Taylor said that the bid envisioned Scotland hosting the opening match, three group stages, three quarter finals, one semi final and the final match, with the Republic of Ireland hosting one group stage, one quarter final, and one semi final.
The final bid saw changes to the initial plan with stadia in Scotland hosting both semi finals, as well as the final. Murrayfield would be the final venue, with Hampden and Celtic Park each hosting a semi final match.
The eight venues would have been:
Two of the following three:
Two of the following three:
Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow Edinburgh
Hampden ParkCeltic ParkIbrox StadiumMurrayfield Stadium
Capacity: 52,063Capacity: 60,832Capacity: 51,082Capacity: 67,200
Edinburgh Aberdeen
Easter RoadNew Aberdeen Stadium
Capacity: 34,880
Capacity: 31,400
Dundee Dublin Dublin Abbotstown, Castleknock
New Dundee StadiumCroke ParkLandsdown RoadNew Dublin Stadium
Capacity: 31,400
Capacity: 82,300Capacity: 51,700
Capacity: 80,000

Had the bid been successful, the new stadium in Aberdeen would have been used by Aberdeen, replacing their current Pittodrie Stadium, while the new stadium in Dundee would have been shared by Dundee, Dundee United and the Scottish Claymores American football team, replacing both Dens Park and Tannadice Park, following the competition. It was envisioned that Stadium Ireland would become the home of the Irish national football and rugby union teams, as well as a national stadium for Gaelic games within Ireland.