UEFA Women's Euro 2025 bids

The bidding process for the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 ended on 4 April 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, when Switzerland was announced to be the host.

Hosting requirements

Media agencies revealed on 11 November 2020, that the European football governing body UEFA will decide on the host of UEFA Women's Euro 2025 in December 2022.[1] The application for hosting must be submitted no later than August 2022.[2] The bidding concept for UEFA Euro 2024 was ratified on 1 February 2019.

The tournament is expected to continue the format of the 2017 and 2022 editions, with a total of 31 matches taking place for a duration of up to 25 days, with 16 teams competing in the tournament.

The requirements for the stadiums are as follows:

  • 6-8 stadiums with 8,000-20,000 seats
  • 1 stadium with at least 20,000 seats (potential final hosting)
  • 4 quality training facilities per stadium
  • 4 hotels per stadium

Schedule

Date Notes
1 June 2019 Bid committee announced
9 August 2019 Meeting with former and upcoming hosts
29 August 2019 UEFA Women's Euro 2025 Workshop
12 October 2022 Deadline for submission of bids[3]
4 April 2023 Announcement of hosts by UEFA Executive Committee[4]

Bids

Eight European national associations signalled to UEFA their interest in staging UEFA Women's Euro 2025:

Confirmed bids

Poland

On 3 June 2021, Zbigniew Boniek, head of the Polish Football Association, announced that the association had filed their bid at UEFA to host the 2025 Women's Championship, citing women's football as gaining in popularity in many European countries, including Poland. Poland hosted previously the Men's Euro in 2012 with Ukraine and the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[5]

The following are the 10 host cities and stadiums selected for Poland's bid:[6]

"Nordics 2025": Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden

On 15 October 2021, the Danish Football Association, announced that the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) with support from Iceland and Faroe Islands, have confirmed their bids to host the UEFA Euro 2025. Following statement, where mentioned by president of the Danish Football Association (DBU) Jesper Møller saying, "We at DBU and in the Nordic football associations have very ambitious visions for the development of women's football. For four years, we have worked closely with our Nordic colleagues to create a strong bid for a final round. We are convinced that a Nordic host for the UEFA Euro 2025 will be fantastic for women's football - fans, players, stakeholders and UEFA".[7]

Head of Women's Football Development Manager in the Finnish Football Association Heidi Pihlaja said in a press release: "The European Championship finals bid, together with the other Nordic countries, is a key part of our goal to strengthen football as a sport for women and girls". All four countries previously hosted the tournament in 1984, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2009 and 2013.[8] If the bid is successful, it will be the second time in the history that four countries co-hosting one major football tournament, after the men's 2007 AFC Asian Cup (hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam).

The following are the 9 host cities and stadiums selected for Nordic bid:[9]

France

France has never hosted the UEFA Women's Euro before, but the French Football Federation declared its interest in hosting it for the first time in the country's history. If France is selected, it would mark six years after France hosted the FIFA Women's World Cup.[10] Nevertheless, the country already hosted the 1960, 1984 and 2016 men's Euros, in which they can be used for the potential Women's Euro. The bid states that 59 of the 62 trips for the teams are possible by bus or train.[11]

The following are the 8 host cities for France's bid:

The reserved venues are as follows:

The scrapped venues are as follows:

Switzerland

Switzerland looks to host its first-ever UEFA Women's Euro in the country's history. the Swiss Football Association confirmed their interest in November 2021. If awarded, it would be seventeen years after Switzerland co-host the Men's Euro with Austria.[12]

On 23 March 2022, the Swiss Football Association announced an eleven city shortlist for the bid, with Neuchâtel (voluntarily withdrew) and the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne (not deemed an option) being taken out.[13] Of the eleven cities, Liechtenstein's capital, Vaduz was included in the Swiss bid. Speaking about the inclusion of Vaduz, the head of LFV, Hugo Quaderer, said: "Liechtenstein football fans have never had the opportunity to experience games for one of the most important cups in European football live, practically on their doorstep. We would therefore be very happy if Switzerland were awarded the contract with Vaduz as the venue."[14]

However, by September 2022 plans for Liechtenstein's part of the bid were scrapped, along with Swiss town, Schaffhausen. Lausanne withdrew as a venue prior to the vote to focus on hosting the 2025 Swiss Federal Gymnastics Festival.[15]

The use of artificial turf in some Swiss stadiums was also brought up as a potential problem.[16]

The following are the 8 host cities and stadiums selected for Switzerland's bid:[17]

The scrapped venues from the eleven city shortlist are as follows:

The venues that were originally considered, but didn't make the eleven city shortlist:[13]

Cancelled bids

Denmark

In February 2019, the Danish Football Association stated its intention to bid, inspired by the recent success of the Denmark women's national football team. A joint bid with the other Nordic countries was also mentioned to be possible.[2] Denmark hosted the UEFA Women's Euro 1991, with the host cities of Aalborg, Frederikshavn and Hjørring. As of July 2020, a bidding committee has already been set up to facilitate the Danish attempt to host the tournament.[18] However, according to the president of the Danish Football Association Jesper Møller, there will also be a modernization of several of the Danish stadiums if the desire to apply should become a reality.[19]

On 25 March 2021, the Danish regional television station TV 2/Fyn, announced that they given access to documents, through Odense Municipality, where it appears that 12 Danish cities would be potential host cities for the tournament in 2025.[20][21] A timetable in the annexes states that the interested host cities have one year from now to decide whether they want to take their interest seriously.

The following are the 12 host cities and stadiums selected for Denmark's potential bid:[20]

On 15 October 2021, the president of the Danish Football Association Jesper Møller announced on a press conference that his association abandoned its original plan to host the tournament independently and will focus on the plans for the Nordic candidacy.[8][22]

Ukraine

The Ukrainian Association of Football had declared its interest in hosting the tournament in November 2021. It would have marked the first time Ukraine hosted the event, thirteen years after hosting the Men's Euro with Poland.[23] However, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the bidding plan of Ukraine was put in limbo due to the war and security concerns.[24]

References

  1. ^ "UEFA to launch sports category tender process for UEFA Women's Football Competitions for 2021-25". UEFA. 11 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Denmark wants to stage Women's European Championship in 2025". BBC Sport. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Switzerland add to list of those bidding for Women's Euros in 2025". RTÉ. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  4. ^ "UEFA Executive Committee agenda for Nyon meeting" (Press release). UEFA. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Mistrzostwa Europy kobiet 2025 również w Krakowie? Jest na to szansa!". Polsat Sport. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Kolejna wielka piłkarska impreza w Polsce? Zbigniew Boniek zabrał głos". Sportowy24. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Norden vil have værtskabet for kvinde-EM i 2025". Danish Football Association (in Danish). 15 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Finland joins Nordic bid to host Women's Euro 2025". Yle. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Nordic Countries Bid to Host Euro 2025". Life in Norway. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Football: France could organize the Women's Euro in 2025". Archyde. 6 November 2021.
  11. ^ Birrer, Peter B. (April 3, 2023). "Fussball-EM 2025 der Frauen: Das spricht für die Schweiz". Neue Zürcher Zeitung – via NZZ.
  12. ^ "L'Association suisse de football convoite l'Euro féminin 2025". Le Temps (in French). 26 November 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Frauenfussball-EM 2025 - Die Schweiz kandidiert – und geht mit 11 Stadien ins Rennen". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF). March 22, 2022.
  14. ^ "Schweiz und Liechtenstein reichen Bewerbung für die EM 2025 ein". Soccerdonna (in German). 26 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Die wichtigsten fünf Minuten meines Lebens" [The most important five minutes of my life]. www.blick.ch (in German).
  16. ^ "Der Kunstrasen bedroht unseren EM-Traum!" [The artificial turf threatens our European Championship dream!]. www.blick.ch (in German).
  17. ^ "Kickoff Kampagne Schweizer Kandidatur für die UEFA Women's EURO 2025" (in German). Swiss Football Association. 14 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Women's Euro 2025 Budkomité" (in Danish). Danish Football Association. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  19. ^ "Kvinde-EM på hjemmebane? DBU-formand kalder det en fifty-fifty" (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Odense i spil som værtsby: DBU vil have EM for kvinder til Danmark" (in Danish). TV 2/Fyn. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Viborg er i spil som værtsby for EM i kvindefodbold - borgmester ser det gerne ske". Viborg Stifts Folkeblad (in Danish). 25 March 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  22. ^ "Nordiske lande jagter EM for fodboldkvinder i 2025" [Nordic countries are chasing the European Championships for women's football in 2025]. MSN (in Danish). Microsoft. Ritzau. 15 Oct 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  23. ^ "Ukraine among bidders for hosting 2025 UEFA Women's Championship". Kyiv Post. 6 November 2021.
  24. ^ Hutt, David (18 July 2022). "Women's Euro 2022: Why is Eastern Europe trailing behind in women's football?". Euronews. Retrieved 2 August 2022. ...Ukraine's bid [to host the UEFA Euro 2025] on hold due to the war.