Turkey is on the cusp of securing the hosting rights for a significant international football tournament as UEFA prepares to reveal the chosen location for Euro 2032.
For Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this achievement has long been a cherished dream, as he aspired to bring one of the world’s most esteemed sporting events to his nation.
The decision on who will host the 2028 and 2032 European Championships will be unveiled during UEFA’s executive committee meeting on Tuesday, October 10. Turkey had previously withdrawn its bid for the 2028 tournament to concentrate its efforts on a joint proposal with Italy for the event four years later.
Should Turkey win the privilege of hosting the largest sporting event in Europe, it would undoubtedly stand as one of the pivotal accomplishments during Erdogan’s tenure.
Daghan Irak, a media communication lecturer at the University of Huddersfield in England, observes, “In modern times, sport has always been perceived as a means for Turkey to establish its legitimacy and compete on equal footing with the rest of the Western world. Erdogan has remained faithful to this historical strategy.”
Erdogan assumed the role of prime minister at the close of 2002, a period that saw Turkey’s combined bid with Greece for Euro 2008 falter, even amid improving relations between the two nations. UEFA ultimately awarded the hosting rights to Austria and Switzerland.
Subsequently, Turkey pursued the hosting rights for Euro 2012 independently, only to be bested by a joint bid from Ukraine and Poland. In 2016, the hosting honor went to France, and in the Euro 2024 bid, Germany emerged victorious, with UEFA expressing concerns about Turkey’s “lack of an action plan in the area of human rights.”
