By Samindra Kunti in Lisbon
April 4 – In a bidding race that went down to the wire, Switzerland won the right to host Euro 2025 after seeing off the combined bid from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland as well as hosting hopefuls France and Poland.
It took the UEFA executive committee three rounds of voting before president Aleksander Ceferin announced that Switzerland would host the continent’s flagship women’s tournament in 2025, eliciting huge cheers from the Swiss delegation led by FA president Dominque Blanc and project leader Marion Daube.
Blanc called it “a historic day for women’s football in Switzerland.”
The Swiss defeated the Nordic bid by Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway 9-4 in the final round of voting.
It is the first senior tournament that Switzerland will host alone since the 1954 World Cup. They co-hosted Euro 2008 with neighbours Austria.
The Nordic bidders had been the marginal favourites, running on a ticket of joint appeal, popular support and good relations with UEFA’s hierarchy. They enjoyed the influence of Karl-Erik Nilsson and Jesper Moller on the executive committee, but after years of preparation, they were defeated by the Swiss.
In a final presentation to the executive committee, Switzerland highlighted their accessibility in the heart of Europe, the compact nature of their bid and government support.
“Our principal argument was sustainability in a compact country,” explained Blanc. “It is one of the last major events that Switzerland can stage alone. And there is a lot of enthusiasm and support from politics in the country as well as the easy transport. Every match ticket will include a train ticket. It is a country in the centre of Europe that allows every participating nation to reach us easily.”
France organized a bumper 2019 World Cup, but the French Football Federation (FFF) as well as the national team have been slumping from one scandal to the next, leaving the reputation of the French game in tatters. The French bid was eliminated in the first round of voting.
“They voted in three rounds which show that many of the bids were high quality and competitive,” said Swedish FA president Frederik Reinfeldt. “In the past, it was very hard to find anyone who wanted to host this event. Congratulations to Switzerland. It will boost interest anyhow in the Nordic countries as well as in Europe. That’s what we saw after the tournament in England – so many viewers and followers and that boils down to young girls wanting to play football.”
With a competitive national team and good infrastructure in the heart of Europe, UEFA will want to build with the Swiss hosts on the success of Euro 2021, a tournament, hosted by England, that broke records.
UEFA said it was the most watched ever Women’s Euro with a record aggregate attendance of 574,875 across the ten venues, eclipsing the Euro 2017 record of 240,055 fans in the Netherlands, a cumulative viewership of 365 million on TV, outstripping the 178 million viewers for the 2017 tournament. On social media UEFA said the tournament generated 453 million interactions.
The Swiss will have just two years to organize the competition, but Blanc promised they will get to work immediately. Zurich, Geneva, Bern, Skt Gallen, Thun, Sion and Basel will serve as host cities.
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