New EURO Setup?

German national football team players Bastian Schweinsteiger (left) and
Phillip Lahm (right). Image obtained from Google.

UEFA EURO tournaments.  Don't know what I'm talking about?  Here's a bit of background to get you up to speed about.

Think of the UEFA EURO tournament as being just like the FIFA World Cup that's hosted every 4 years, except that participating national teams may only come from European countries.  Now I won't dwell on this issue but it's interesting to look at the countries that participate regularly and compare that with EU members.    Turkey participated in EURO 2008 but has had its EU ascension hopes waitlisted for decades.  Ponder that thought; maybe do some personal research but I'm leaving this point alone now.

Anyways, EURO.  Okay so it's reminiscent of a European-style World Cup and, personally, I think it's more interesting to watch than the World Cup because I like European football teams.

The tournament structure of EURO has always been like that of the World Cup; a host nation is chosen and all of the tournament matches are played at venues around the host country.  Well this might not be the case for EURO 2020.  I've stumbled upon article that suggests that the UEFA President Michel Platini is considering changing the layout for this particular tournament and having it be played at stadiums around the CONTINENT.  Sacrebleu!  What is this madness?!?  Below I will outline Mr. Platini's rationale and then state why I think he's a little off his rocker...

Platini states that by having 12 different countries host matches across Europe, the costs of the tournament would not be a burden on a single (or sometimes pair) host country.  Alright, I concede that this is a decent reason for suggesting this new tournament format.  Afterall, Europe has failed to recover from the economic crisis to the extent that the United States has and, looking to the future, it seems logical that hosting a tournament of this magnitude risks a host country's economic recovery.  But I'd like to make one point.  Countries vie to host a EURO tournament for the glory.  They don't do something like this because it will be fiscally profitable in the short run.  If a country can host a good tournament, then they can hope for increased tourist revenue in the years to come and the title of EURO host city long into the future.

This is almost like the head of the Olympic committee to suggest that the Olympics should be held AROUND THE WORLD, instead of in one lucky country.

Now I recognize that if EURO 2020 were to be held in this new layout as is currently being discussed, it would shine the spotlight on cities all around Europe simultaneously.  And perhaps it would reinforce the idea of a "shared European identity" that the EU is pushing so hard to create.  But this tournament is not designed to bring neighboring countries closer together.  National teams train to win, not to make friends.

As a football fan living in America, I think that this is a poor choice in the spirit of EURO competitions, even if it is a fiscally-responsible one for Europe.

Sarah