GUEST TURNED HOST

The proposal of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to hold the European Football Championship 2020 in Georgia and Azerbaijan is the focus of the continent's leading media. On a visit to Baku, he expressed Georgia's desire to host the European Football Championship together with Azerbaijan. According to him, holding the continental championship will be a great honour and responsibility for both countries.

Of course, the desire of the head of the neighbouring state to host such an important sporting event can only be welcomed. However, it is desirable, naturally, to make sure that the desire and possibilities are the same. So what do we have available?

Azerbaijan, which has already hosted a number of world and European championships in various sports, has extensive experience in organizing prestigious international competitions. In this respect, Georgia can benefit from the expertise and authority of Baku in various sports organizations.

At the same time, Azerbaijan has hosted very few international football matches. It's no secret that Azerbaijan and Georgia both have a problem with stadiums that meet international standards, although theoretically, there is still enough time to bring the infrastructure into compliance with the requirements of UEFA. After all, the organizer of Euro 2020 will be approved only in 2014.

What are the requirements of UEFA for the hosts of the European Championship? First of all, a candidate country must have two stadiums with a capacity of 50,000, three stadiums with a capacity of 40, 000 and four with a capacity of 30,000 seats. Baku has already held a ceremony to lay the foundations of an Olympic stadium with a capacity of 80,000 seats, whose construction will be completed in 2015. The Boris Paychadze stadium in Tbilisi can accommodate 55,000 spectators. Hence, there will be no problems with large sports arenas. By 2020, both of these arenas will be commissioned.

The reconstruction of the Tofiq Bahramov stadium in Baku is already coming to an end. This stadium can accommodate 31,200 spectators and will be ready this summer. The Mikheil Meskhi stadium in Tbilisi is also designed for 30,000 spectators. Thus, there are only four of the nine stadiums required by UEFA. Azerbaijan and Georgia do not yet have other stadiums that meet the standards for the continental championship.

In addition to the stadiums, it is necessary to have highways and motorways, maritime and railway stations and airports that meet the highest standards. Azerbaijan pays special attention to roads. The maritime and railway stations have been rebuilt. Work has already begun to reconstruct the airport. But much remains to be done. And if Azerbaijan and Georgia are really going to host the European championship, they need to get to work today.

The main UEFA requirement for a candidate country is related to the political issue. A country wishing to host the European Championship should not be in a state of war. Azerbaijan has still the unsolved problem of Armenian-occupied Nagornyy Karabakh. Georgia has also suffered from separatism, and these conflicts still threaten stability in the region. Therefore, the prospect of Azerbaijan and Georgia being selected as the venue for the European Football Championship in 2020 is somewhat obscure.

By the way, Azerbaijan has already expressed its desire to host the Euro 2012 finalists. However, UEFA handed over the holding of this event to Poland and Ukraine.

Among other things, UEFA also takes into account the success of the national team of the country that bids to host the European Championship. For the time being, we cannot boast of great achievements. This factor also reduces the probability of our country being chosen as the venue for Euro 2020.

Of course, the mere fact that a country has been nominated to host Euro 2020 is a step forward in terms of experience in this field. On the other hand, it can become a good advertisement for the country. And such a possibility should be ably used. In particular, Baku can show that Azerbaijan will need to overcome only minor obstacles to host Euro 2020.

At the same time, Azerbaijan is now actively promoting its bid to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2020. Conducting both the Olympics and European Championships in one year is an extremely difficult task. There is no doubt that UEFA will take this factor into account.

The decision on the possibility of holding the European Football Championship in Azerbaijan and Georgia will become known after the UEFA Congress, which will be held in Istanbul on 21 March. According to Georgian Minister for Sport and Youth Vladimir Vardzelashvili, the parties have already agreed on 14 important points. It now remains to hold formal discussions on the terms with UEFA.

However, AFFA President Rovnaq Abdullaev advised us not to hurry: "Given the close ties between Azerbaijan and Georgia, I proposed cooperation in the field of sports. As you know, SOCAR is the sponsor of the Georgian Football Federation and the national team. At the same time, it is also necessary to think about the European Championships. Baku is also a candidate to host the Summer Olympic Games. Holding both competitions at the same time will be very difficult. We will soon announce our official position on the issue of Euro-2020."

Meanwhile, the number of countries willing to host the European football championship in 2020 is growing day by day. In addition to Azerbaijan and Georgia, 7 countries have already put forward their nominations: Belgium, Bos-nia/Croatia/Serbia, the Czech Re-public/Slovakia, Romania/Bulgaria, Hol-land, Ireland/Scotland/Wales and Tur-key. The country which will host Euro 2020 will be announced by UEFA in 2014.