Ex-Soviet neighbours Azerbaijan and Georgia have renewed their joint bid to host the European football championships in 2020, officials in Baku and Tbilisi said on Friday.
A joint bid was initially announced in March but Azerbaijan pulled out because it was also bidding for the 2020 Olympic Games, leaving Georgia to lobby for the football tournament alone. But after Azerbaijan’s Olympic hopes were dashed when capital Baku was eliminated from the running this week, the energy-rich state decided to renew its joint tilt at Euro 2020 with Georgia.
“The football federations of Azerbaijan and Georgia have held consultations and have made an official application to (European football’s governing body) UEFA to register our joint candidature for hosting Euro 2020,” Azerbaijan’s football federation said in a statement.
Georgia’s sports ministry confirmed that the neighbours would bid together. “Azerbaijan is officially joining our application,” sports minister Lado Vardzelashvili told journalists. “Together we have a better chance,” he said. Azerbaijan is flush with oil money and currently hosting the high-profile Eurovision song contest, but Georgia is relatively poor.
However both small Caucasus states have been seeking in recent years to boost their international standing with ambitious projects.
This year’s European football championship will be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine, with the 2016 tournament to be held in France.
UEFA has said it will choose the winning bid for 2020 in late 2013 or early 2014.
