Italy is planning to make a bid to host the 2028 European Championship or the 2030 World Cup but first, they need to improve the quality of their stadiums if it is to succeed, the head of the Italian Football Federation (FICG) said on Thursday.
In the Euro 2020 final, Italy beat England in the penalty shootout to claim their second European Championship. The two countries could also be competing against each other to host the World Cup, which is held every four years, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has planned a bid for the 2030 World Cup finals in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
“We will evaluate an Italy candidacy for the 2028 European Championship and the World Cup of 2030, in which the centenary of the world championship is celebrated,” FIGC president Gabriele Gravina told a news conference.
“Let’s try for the Euros first, then we’ll think about the other one,” he added.
Italy hosted its last major football event in 1990 and some stadiums haven’t been upgraded since that world cup.
“We must improve the conditions of the stadiums because if we do not start an investment path in infrastructure we will never be able to aspire to organise such a great event,” Gravina added.
“We must do things quickly. For me, we cannot go into a bid thinking that ‘we have the stadiums, but if you give me the event, I will then improve them’. That’s not how it works,” he said.
Spain and Portugal have also expressed an interest in hosting the 2030 World Cup apart from Italy and England.Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Romania have revealed that they will make a joint bid while Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay have mentioned that they will make a four-way bid.
Football’s governing body FIFA will choose the hosts in 2024 while the bidding process will commence from 2022.