More than just a competition

On 19 September Geneva provided the setting for the biggest tournament announcement in UEFA's 60-year history, as the final round of the UEFA European Football Championship prepares to become a pan-European experience for the first time, with 13 cities across the continent hosting a festival of football in June/July 2020.

The tournament will be the culmination of a range of innovations and improvements aimed at strengthening the position of national-team football in the hearts and minds of football fans.

The first of those innovations has been the introduction of the European Qualifiers for the newly expanded UEFA EURO and the FIFA World Cup, including the centralisation of the media rights for those matches, which has resulted in the launch of the Week of Football concept for international matchweeks. The early results of this initiative have been highly encouraging. Not only have UEFA's member associations backed the new concept, but sponsors, broadcasters and – crucially – the fans have also embraced the idea.

The spirit of innovation does not end there. Following the 2018 World Cup, the inaugural UEFA Nations League will get under way. This new national team competition will involve both promotion and relegation and be an opportunity for teams to test themselves against opponents of similar stature. It will replace meaningless friendlies with meaningful matches, without any need to add extra dates to the international calendar.

At the end of the road, UEFA EURO 2020 awaits. Thirteen host cities – from St Petersburg in the north to Rome in the south, and from Dublin in the west to Baku in the east – will ensure that this final tournament is a fantastic experience for all concerned. UEFA has awarded this EURO to Europe as a whole, and our member associations have responded in kind.

More than just a competition, UEFA EURO 2020 also supports a philosophy. The bidding and voting process was transparent and the public were kept informed every step of the way, with the bid evaluation reports and information about the voting procedure published for all to see. The decision-making process had to be as transparent as the tournament concept was rock-solid.

It was also important that the tournament was taken to all four corners of the continent, and this was reflected in the votes of the UEFA Executive Committee. Of the 13 venues selected, eight have never staged a match in the final round of a UEFA European Football Championship. For those eight national teams, there is no greater incentive than this. And with 12 venues each hosting four final round matches, fans in those 12 countries will have the opportunity to see their national side play at least two games on home soil – provided they qualify, of course. This pan-European carnival of football will end with football coming home to London once again, with Wembley Stadium playing host to both the semi-finals and the final.

This is unquestionably a EURO for Europe – a EURO for football lovers across the continent – and a fitting way for UEFA's premium national team competition to celebrate its 60th anniversary.