Four official “interest” bids to host the 2016 version of the UEFA European Football Championships came in before the self imposed March 9th deadline, three of which were single country hosting bids and the last being two countries interested in co - hosting the tournament.

Via UEFA 

UEFA said on Tuesday that France, Italy and Turkey had informed European football’s governing body that they wished to submit a single bid, while Norway and Sweden expressed their interest to submit a joint bid.

“UEFA will now review the eligibility of the interested candidates, based on the various technical requirements relating to the potential infrastructure needed for UEFA EURO 2016™, as well as any previous experience of the relevant member associations, cities and venues in organising multi-venue sports events, before confirming the official list of bidders.”

The second phase will begin on or about 3 April this year when the bid requirements are distributed. The candidates will be able to develop their bid dossiers, which they will have to present to UEFA by 15 February 2010. This will be followed by an evaluation phase from March 2010, during which UEFA will conduct a series of official visits to the various bidders. The UEFA administration, and experts appointed by UEFA, will then examine the bid dossiers and prepare written evaluation reports for submission to the UEFA National Team Competitions Committee. UEFA’s Executive Committee will take a final decision on or about 27 May 2010.

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