France Awarded 2016 European Championships

UEFA has the 2016 European Championship to France.

The hosts of the 1998 World Cup beat out Turkey and Italy for the honor.  Italy was eliminated in the first round of voting, while Turkey lost out by one vote on the ultimate ballot.

France last hosted the UEFA championships in 1984 but regains the competition the year it expands from 16 to 24 teams.

President of the French Football Federation Jean-Pierre Escalettes said, in a statement on the organization's website:

"My thoughts are with our frinds in Turkey and Italy, I put myself in their place, I imagine their disappointment and frustration after months and months of work ... Good luck to Italian football and Turkish football. Emotion overwhelms my to think in 2016 France will host the European championships. What matters is to have UEFA's confidence. That trust will not be betrayed. It's a great day for us!"

The competition goes to the home country of UEFA president Michel Platini, who, being of Italian descent, talked of being in a difficult position:

Platini told a news conference in Geneva: "The position of the president of UEFA being French is complex and let me say we have had three exceptional bids.

"It was a very narrow decision - the work done by all three federations was outstanding, and I would like to congratulate the French.

"It has been a complicated situation from the outset and I believe there is a sigh of relief from French football, and they can now upgrade all their stadia to make them up to the same standard as other countries in Europe.

"It was not an easy situation for me - I am French, my name is Italian and I have many friends in Turkey. It was the same for Senes Erzik, the [Turkish] first vice-president of UEFA.

"But UEFA has proved once again that we have democracy."

President of the Turkish Football Federation Mahmut Ozgener chose to take a positive view of his country's near-miss:

"We lost a point against France. If we only lost one point, that means the jury believed in Turkey's candidacy," he mused after the announcement, according to the AFP news agency. "So I think we must continue on this path.

"There was a competition, in which we have participated by demonstrating fair play and that's how we will continue. Now, the comments, it is you [the media] to make."

France president Nicolas Sarkozy spoke of the financial commitment the French government is making, €1.75 billion, amidst difficult financial times:

"When I spoke to the French Football Federation, we asked ourselves whether we wanted to be candidates in the middle of a crisis," he told the ceremony during the French presentation.

"But sport is an answer to the crisis. It is because we are in a crisis that we need sport. Nothing is more powerful than sport and, within sport, nothing is more powerful that football."

France's winning bid is slated to bring Euro 2016 to twelve venues: the Stade de France, Parc des Princes, Lens, Lille, Bordeaux, Nice, Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, Strasbourg, Saint Etienne and Nancy.