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Turkish tears as Togel SingaporeFrance bags Euro 2016

It always seemed a pipe dream, but it almost came to pass.

That Turkey, a relatively poor muslim nation with humble infrastructure on the fringe of Europe, would pip two established football Indiansatta powers to the hosting of the continent’s prestige event always looked a bit of a long shot.

And yet, when it came down to the vote in Geneva yesterday, UEFA’s Executive Committee voted for France to host Euro 2016 by only one vote. France was a safe bet, the safest pair of hands of the three final competitors for the big prize. Italy, the other continental giant in contention, was eliminated after the first round of voting, perhaps still reeling from its rejection for 2012 in favour of Poland & Ukraine after Calciopoli and a season of ugly fan violence had exploded in UEFA’s face.

On paper, the French bid had little donkey work to do, Togel Singaporewith the memory of France ’98 still vivid and the Eurostars and TGVs still zapping through la campagne at dizzying speeds. Nevertheless, UEFA still found time to nitpick about the hotel provision and the lack of space for media and hospitality around their stadia.

Compared to its 1998 selection, the French Football Federation’s choice for 2016 has no place for Brittany and the North-West with Nantes dropped in favour of Nancy and Strasbourg in the East, a region which missed out 12 years ago. On the Mediterranean coast, Nice replaces Montpellier, while in the far north, Lille’s future 50,000-seat venue is included, adding another convenient venue for travelers from the United Kingdom.

While the nationality of UEFA President Platini may have had an invisible influence on the votes, what could well have swayed wavering votes are the ongoing travails surrounding Poland and especially the Ukraine, a fear carefully exploited by the French in their canny bidding slogan ‘Pride and Security’.

That Turkey had made it through to the final three was impressive enough, that it missed out by one UEFA delegate heartbreaking for the nation’s FA.

“We are devastated,” bid leader Orhan Gorbon said. “This was our third bid so it is not much consolation to know that we lost by a small margin.”

The thirteen members of the Executive Board were asked to consider a number of factors, but as with the Olympics and the World Cup, decisions of this stature are often coloured by internal and external politics, deals, personal relationships and inner prejudices.

Political pressure surrounding the sensitivity of the European Union’s eastern frontier with Russia’s hinterland has ensured Ukraine has been kept on board for 2012 despite its manifest shortcomings, so in the same way it had been thought Turkey might benefit from the political moves to grant Turkey full EU membership, an angle hinted at by Turkish President Abdullah Gul in his pleas for a “historic decision.”