Uefa, football’s European governing body, will announce the host cities for the Euro 2020 tournament following a meeting on September 18 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The tournament will be staged in multiple cities across Europe, with widespread reports indicating that Wembley will be allocated the most prestigious package comprising the competition’s three biggest games.

England’s main rival for the top package had been Germany, but the latter is reportedly considering dropping its attempt to secure the top games at Euro 2020 in favour of launching a bid to host the Euro 2024 edition in its entirety.

Now Horne has suggested that England would be interested in following up hosting the finale of Euro 2020 by staging the full tournament in 2028 for the first time since 1996.

“We're really confident with our bid,” Horne said, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

“We know what the Germans have been saying. We know that they're thinking about 2024, but nothing has been confirmed.

“I'm not going to dwell on their politics. I'm expecting that they're not going to push very hard for 2020. They've made it very clear they want 2024.
“I wouldn't rule out looking at Euro 2028 for a full tournament bid.”

Wolfgang Niersbach, the head of the DFB, the sport’s governing body in Germany, said: “We still have the two options – to host the final rounds or four matches in the group stage. Our decision is open.

“We have a wonderful relationship with the England FA, but I am totally convinced that we will have both Wembley and Munich on the land map for Euro 2020.”

England lost out to Germany in bidding to host the 2006 Fifa World Cup and then crashed out in the first round of voting for the hosting rights to the 2018 World Cup, which was ultimately secured by Russia.

Germany’s anticipated bid for Euro 2024 is likely to be challenged by Turkey, which withdrew its bid for Euro 2020 games in April and announced that it would focus on the following edition of the event in 10 years’ time.

Beijing, which staged the 2008 Summer Olympics, is up against the Norwegian city of Oslo and Almaty in Kazakhstan for the right to host the 2022 Games, with the IOC set to select the host city on July 31, 2015.

The second edition of the Summer Youth Olympics will conclude on Thursday, and Bach told the Xinhua news agency that Nanjing’s organisation of the event had been “seamless”, echoing the thoughts of Chinese IOC member Yang Yang, who said that Nanjing’s success would lift Beijing’s hopes of becoming the first city to stage the Summer and Winter Olympics.

“Of course it can help,” Bach said. “Nanjing has shown again the excellent way in which China has been able to organise a big event, as well as the friendliness and hospitality of the Chinese people.

“It is a good showcase for China and will, of course, support Beijing’s bid.

“The organisation here [in Nanjing] is flawless. We haven't had any kinds of problems to solve so we have just been able to enjoy the Games with the athletes, the volunteers and the people of Nanjing.

“It has been a great combination of friendliness and efficiency at the same time. If you have the two together, you are guaranteed to have a successful Games.”

Former IOC President Jacques Rogge said earlier this month that, if Beijing were to be awarded the 2022 Games, he is sure they would “do a very good job”.

Bids for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be among the topics discussed by IOC Vice President Sir Craig Reedie and others at the HOST CITY: BID TO WIN conference, which will take place in London on 28th October. Visit www.bidtowin-hostcity.net for more information.

Berlin and Hamburg are interested in bringing the Summer Olympics to Germany for the first time since Munich hosted the 1972 Games, and the former has confirmed that it will submit its answers to a questionnaire sent out by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) by the end of this week.

“We will answer the questionnaire of the DOSB and will then unveil our concept on September 1,” Wowereit told a press conference. “I am confident that we will answer those questions well. After that there will be a vote for all Berliners to decide. We want the widest possible support for this.”

The DOSB questionnaire contains 13 questions covering aspects such as venue locations, event goals, finances and transport infrastructure.

However, Wowereit will not oversee the possible realisation of Berlin’s Olympic ambitions after confirming at the press conference that he will step down as Mayor on December 11 after 13 years in office.

Wowereit, who has been widely criticised for delays and the spiralling cost of developing the unfinished Brandenburg Airport in Berlin, added: “I am leaving voluntarily and I'm proud to have made my contribution to the positive development of this city.”

It is unclear whether the departure of Wowereit may influence Berlin’s potential bid for the Games, but a spokesperson for his office told HOST CITY: “It was unexpected. We are all very surprised here.”

Berlin previously staged the summer Olympics in 1936, but failed in a bid for the 2000 Games after being eliminated in the second round of voting, with Sydney in Australia ultimately emerging victorious. The DOSB also opted to support Leipzig rather than Berlin for a tilt at the 2012 Olympics, although London in Britain eventually secured the hosting rights.

Other potential bidders for the 2024 Games include Baku (Azerbaijan), Doha (Qatar), Dubai (UAE), Istanbul (Turkey), Paris (France) and Rome (Italy) with South Africa also mulling over a possible bid and the US set to select an applicant city from a shortlist comprising Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC.

The first edition of the International University Beach Games will take place from November 30 to December 8 and feature athletes from across the world.

The CBDU national university body in Brazil will work alongside FISU in helping to organise the event, which will attract athletes between the ages of 17 and 28 years old.

The event will feature six sports – beach volleyball, beach football, beach handball, beach rugby, beach triathlon and surfing – with some places reserved for Brazil-based students. Other places will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis and the organisers will accept more than one application per country.

All participants and guests will be accommodated at the Hotel Ritz Lagoa da Anta. Maceio is situated about 100km south of Recife and is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas.

FISU is a member of SportAccord, the umbrella organisation for more than 100 international sports federations and bodies.

SportAccord is planning to launch a beach event of its own next year as part of its strategy to expand its multi-sport events division. Brazil is also understood to be in the running to host the inaugural SportAccord World Beach Games next year, with the United States and United Arab Emirates also interested.

Earlier this week, FISU launched the bidding process for the 2021 Winter and Summer editions of the Universiade, the governing body’s flagship biennial event.

Interested parties have until March 1, 2015 to submit their bidding forms and bidding fees before working sessions are held with the applicant cities from April 1 to September 30 and the final bid books are delivered to FISU next autumn.

The summer edition of the Universiade will take place in Gwangju, Korea in 2015, Taipei City in Chinese Taipei in 2017 and Brasilia in Brazil in 2019. The Winter Universiade will be held in Granada, Spain in 2015, Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2017 and Krasnoyarsk, Russia in 2019.

Under the capital city’s proposals, Berlin would utilise its Olympiastadion – the centrepiece when it last hosted the Games in 1936. Elsewhere, plans focus on the use of land at the still-operational Tegel airport, which will close down when Berlin’s new international airport opens.

Tefel is about a 15-minute drive from the north-west of Berlin city centre, while land at the centrally located and defunct Tempelhof airport would be used alongside a selection of existing sports venues.

Hamburg’s proposal focuses on the Kleiner Grasbrook area, roughly a 10-minute walking distance from the city centre. A newly-built Olympic stadium would be downsized to a 20,000 capacity after the Games and the Athlete’s Village would serve to address Hamburg’s housing shortage.

DOSB president Alfons Hörmann said that the decision to pursue the Olympic Games would have to accommodate any possible bid by the German Football Association (DFB) to host the Uefa Euro 2024 national team championship.

“Following the discussion process we will decide if we apply with Berlin or Hamburg and, where appropriate, at what time for the Olympic Games,” he said. “This will be done in close coordination with our affiliates, for example because of the possible application of the DFB for the European Championship in 2024. It is important to again be aware that we are at the beginning of a long process, whose clear aim is to bring the Olympic Games to Germany. But the crucial prerequisite for this is clear approval of the affected citizens and all social groups.” 

A bid from Germany would join a potentially strong field for the 2024 Olympic Games, with Paris, Rome, Baku, Doha, Dubai and Istanbul primed to enter the race alongside a South African bid. The US Olympic Committee is set to put forward one of Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Washington D.C. from its candidate cities.

Munich hosted Germany’s last summer Olympics in 1972, with Berlin having previously hosted in 1936. Berlin entered a bid for the 2000 Games, but was eliminated in the second round of voting with Sydney eventually awarded the event. Hamburg had put itself forward for the 2012 Games only for Leipzig to be chosen as Germany’s candidate. Leipzig was then defeated as the event went to London.

The DOSB has yet to announce a deadline over a decision on which city to back or if Germany will target the 2024 Games or the next edition in 2028.

The showpiece conclusion to the men’s tournament will be staged at the multi-purpose Lille Arena, which will have a capacity of 27,000 for the EuroBasket.

For the first time, the group phase of the competition will be shared between four countries, with Zagreb (Croatia), Berlin (Germany) and Riga (Latvia) joining Montpellier in France as host cities.

“This is an important moment in the history of European basketball, as we have voted not only for the hosts of next year's event but also on pioneering a new concept, with four hosts,” Fiba Europe president Turgay Demirel said. “All bids were of the highest quality and it was not easy to choose between them. I would like to thank all bidders for their commitment and their excellent preparation work, coming up to the vote.”

A total of 16 national bodies expressed an interest in hosting the tournament, leading to eight formal bids. Finland, Israel, Poland and Turkey were the countries to miss out in the bidding process. Croatia, France and Turkey tabled bids to host one of the four group phase pools and the final phase knock-out round, while Turkey bid to organise the final phase only. All other bids were solely for pool-phase hosting.

France was left as the only candidate to host the final phase after Turkey shelved its bid and Poland and Croatia withdrew their pitches for the showpiece stage before the Fiba Europe board met to finalise hosting arrangements.

EuroBasket 2015 was originally slated to take place in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv, Odessa, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk before the ongoing political unrest in the eastern European country persuaded Fiba Europe into a June re-think. After removing the tournament from Ukraine, Fiba Europe said it would seek to determine whether the country could host the 2017 edition of the biennial event.

EuroBasket 2015 will take place from September 5-20 next year and the tournament will serve as a qualifying competition for the Rio 2016 summer Olympic Games.

FIFA has sent bidding documents to 31 member associations that have declared their interest in hosting eight tournaments. 

The relevant member associations now have to sign and return the documents before the FIFA Executive Committee begins the process of assigning the hosting rights.

The available events include the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the 2018 U-20 Women’s World Cup, the 2018 U-17 Women’s World Cup and the 2015-2019 Club World Cups. An unprecedented 12 countries have put themselves forward for the 2017 Beach Soccer World Cup.

FIFA has made it clear that it would prefer the 2019 Women’s World Cup and the 2018 U-20 Women’s World Cup to take place in the same country. Four countries have put themselves forward for these two events, namely England, France, Korea Republic, New Zealand and South Africa. 

South Africa has also declared an interest in the 2019 Women’s World Cup, hopeful that its hosting of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2016 will enable it to qualify to host the 2019 Women’s World Cup. 

For the 2018 U-17 Women’s World Cup, FIFA has received five declarations of interest, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Finland, Northern Ireland and Sweden. 

The deadline for submitting the hosting agreement together with all the signed bidding documents for all of the women’s events is 31 October 2014. The election of the host nations is scheduled to take place at the first FIFA Executive Committee meeting in 2015.

The 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup has attracted a particularly large pool of associations, with 12 countries hoping to host the tournament: Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, UAE and USA. 

All bidding and hosting documents for the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup must be signed and submitted by 1 October 2014. The FIFA Executive Committee will appoint the host at its meeting in December 2014.

FIFA has also opened the bidding process for four editions of the FIFA Club World Cup. India and Japan have put themselves forward for the tournament in 2015 and 2016, while Brazil, Japan and UAE are aiming for 2017 and 2018. 

The deadline for submitting the bidding documents is 25 August 2014 and the host will be selected by the Executive Committee in September 2014.

“FIFA is delighted to see the impressive interest from its member associations in hosting a FIFA competition,” football’s world governing body said in a statement.

Seeking support for its bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) treated representatives from fellow African Commonwealth countries to dinner in Botswana on Sunday. 

Representatives from 16 African Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) attended the dinner.

Africa holds great sway in the voting procedure: with 18 of the 70 CGAs, the continent is home to more Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) members than any other region.

Tubby Reddy, CEO of SASCOC said in a statement “We do believe that with your support, our brothers and sisters of Africa, our bid will be successful, and to show the rest of the Commonwealth that it is indeed the African continent’s turn.”

Gideon Sam, President of SASCOC added “If there is any honesty in the world it’s Africa’s time. It’s been to Canada, it’s been to Australia, it’s been to England, it’s been to Scotland, it’s been to Asia but it’s never been to Africa. And we believe that it is our time. We have the infrastructure.”

The CGF does not employ a system of continental rotation for hosting the Games, but its constitution states: “The Commonwealth Games shall not be awarded in succession to countries in the same Region if countries from other Regions are making acceptable applications to act as hosts to the Commonwealth Games.”

In all its 22 editions, the Commonwealth Games has only been awarded three times to emerging cities outside Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

In a previous interview in the Spring issue of HOST CITY magazine, David Grevemberg, CEO of Glasgow 2014 said “Durban is emerging in some ways, but it’s got some regenerative aspects it could use the Games for – it’s hosted a World Cup competition.”

Discussing the future of the Commonwealth Games, Grevemberg said “One of the biggest challenges is to continue to make sure that the Games represent quality, quantity and universality.

“As the Commonwealth Games Federation moves forwards and future hosts come down, it’s about really making sure that the Games can manage all of that and perpetuate itself further by ensuring that it is continually relevant.”

Appealing to his African peers, Sam said “Hosting the World Cup gave the country vital experience and the necessary infrastructure which includes big stadiums, world class swimming pools, athletic tracks and cricket clubs to name but a few.

“We ask for your support as our fellow African counterparts so that we win this bid and host this prestigious event in South Africa.”

The Canadian city of Edmonton is also bidding for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Formal bid proposals are due to be lodged in March 2015. 

The host city will be elected at the Commonwealth Games Federation’s General Assembly in Auckland, New Zealand in September 2015, when the 70 CGF Members will vote by secret ballot.

Cities around the world are expressing their interest in hosting World Expos, with the hosts of the International Exposition in 2023 and Universal Exposition in 2025 expected to be determined over the next two to three years. 

The geographical location of the city and the sustainability of the project will be among the decisive factors, according to Vincente Loscertales, secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). 

Speaking to HOST CITY about why Dubai was awarded the right to host World Expo 2020, Loscertales said “The policy of the organisation is to move Expos to new regions and particular regions which are the link between continents, between other regions.”

Traditionally, World Expos have either taken place in Western Europe, North America or Japan. However, in recent years, as with many major global events, the trend has been towards moving Expos to pastures new such as the Far East – in the case of Shanghai 2010 – and most recently, the Middle East. 

Expo 2017 was awarded to the Kazak capital Astana whilst Expo 2020 will take place in the emirate of Dubai. “Moving the Expo to the Middle East is to take the Expo to a hub; to a place that is a link in trade, transport and financial systems between continents. From this point of view, Dubai is an excellent showcase,” said Loscertales.

“In the case of Dubai, it’s to bring it to a region which is sometimes better known because of conflict, and to show how an Expo in this area will contribute to a better knowledge of the whole region. It is the first time an Expo will take place in an Arabic, Muslim country.”

A whole range of cities from both East and West, are lining up to be considered for the 2025 World Expo. Whilst there are possible bids from Chinese, Russian and Iranian cities, the Expo’s founding fathers London and Paris are also in the mix. 

“We are also in talks with some American cities – Houston and San Francisco. We have also received news from Azerbaijan that they would like to host an Expo in Baku in 2025.”

With the cost of bidding for a World Expo running to as much as US$ 100m, the BIE is keen to make sure that interested cities proceed with their eyes open. Before a city formally bids to host a World Expo, the requirements of hosting the event are explained in a preliminary conversation with the BIE – what Loscertales describes as a “pre-dialogue”.

The result should be a handful of strong candidates. “I anticipate that we will consolidate three to five bids from all the applications,” says Loscertales.

Sustainability must be at the core of both the theme and the planned delivery of an Expo bid. “The duty of our organisation when we evaluate an Expo project is first of all to see how this Expo project is integrated with the environment.”

Loscertales also discussed the progress of Expo 2015 in Milan, which has been hit by construction delays and police investigations into alleged corruption in the awarding of contracts. 

“The political environment is complicated,” said Loscertales. “We have to be optimistic and I am convinced that in May we are going to open the gates of a very beautiful exhibition in Milan.”

To read the full interview with Vincente Loscertales, register to receive HOST CITY magazine

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA)’s request for a 15-day extension to Tuesday’s deadline for bidding for the Asian Games has been refused. 

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has instead told the IOA that they have a “couple of days” to submit the bid documents required for New Delhi to be considered to host the Asian Games in 2019.

Hanoi was originally selected as the host of the 2019 Asian Games at an OCA meeting in Macau in November 2012. However, the Vietnamese government withdrew Hanoi from hosting the event, leaving the OCA seeking a replacement. 

The deadline for applying for candidacy for the Games was set as 1 July 2014. The IOA wrote to the OCA requesting a 15-day extension on this deadline, a request that was refused in a letter replying to the IOA. 

“I regret to inform you that due to the extreme shortage of time, it is impossible for the OCA to extend the deadline any further,” said OCA Director General Husain Al Musallam in a letter to IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta.

“Within this two month period we need to establish the evaluation team that will visit the bidding cities and submit its report to the OCA Executive Board on 19th September. 

"However, if you are able to still submit the guarantees within the next couple of days, OCA is willing to consider IOA's bid very positively."

Gaining the necessary approval from the various government ministries involved in such a short space of time will be a major challenge for India.

The Indonesian city of Surabaya, which lost out to Hanoi in the original bidding process, is no longer a candidate as it is hosting the 2021 Asian Youth Games. 

However, a bid from another Indonesian city is considered mostly likely to win the race to host the 2019 Asian Games. On a visit to Jakarta in May, the OCA’s honorary life vice-president Wei Jizhong said "I don't think other competitors can offer better conditions than Indonesia for the time being."

Singapore, Malaysia and possibly Qatar are also said to have expressed interest in hosting the 2019 Asian Games.

The OCA is due to announce the new host city on 20 September, 2014.