August 17 – Bidding nations don’t normally formally announce who will organise the tournament they want to stage until after the vote takes place.
But Germany says Philip Lahm, who won 113 caps and is already an ambassador for the country’s 2024 Euro bid, will take on the prospective chief role if they beat Turkey at the September 27 ballot to land the competition.
“It was my wish from the start of my activity as ambassador for the Euro 2024 bid to take over long-term responsibility,” said Lahm, who captained Germany to the 2014 World Cup title and has since retired. “This new task as tournament chief offers a very interesting possibility for that.”
The German FA (DFB) said the decision to name Lahm as organising chief had widespread support.
“Philipp Lahm did an outstanding and engaged job as ambassador and I am convinced that this will also be the case after September 27,” said DFB President Reinhard Grindel.
Although there has been no noticeable behind-the-scenes skulduggery that has marked so many previous ballots for major football tournaments, tensions are high between the two federations in the countdown to the 2024 vote among UEFA’s executive committee.
While the DFB has sought to distance itself from Ozil’s surprise retirement from the national team over alleged criticism of his Turkish roots , Turkey has come out in strong support of the Arsenal midfielder.
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