In October 2023, UEFA announced that Italy and Turkey would be the joint hosts of Euro 2032. The announcement came as a bit of a shock as in the past, if two nations have shared hosting rights for an international tournament, then they have at least been neighbouring countries.
Turkey and Italy aren't particularly close to each other but UEFA felt the decision was the right one due to concerns around the state of some of the stadiums in Italy. Turkey, who originally wanted to host Euro 2028, then dropped out of the running for that tournament and combined with Italy as a joint bid.
As it currently stands, half the tournament will be held in Italy and half will be held in Turkey. Both nations have been asked to submit five stadiums to UEFA by October 2026. The governing body will then decide if all ten countries meet their required standards.
Serie A CEO gives warning about potential Italy Euro 2032 stadiums
When the Italian Football Federation were hoping to host the stadium on their own, their proposals listed that several stadiums in the country would be renovated ahead of the tournament. However, due to red tape and convoluted processes which make it difficult for clubs and/or local councils to simply reconstruct/renovate stadiums in Italy, UEFA were unable to back the solo bid.
The ongoing issues surrounding San Siro in Milan are the perfect illustration of that. The stadium is one of the most iconic in the world but UEFA have put plans to hold the 2027 Champions League final there on hold until they have received satisfactory pledges about renovation work.
Budapest gets 2026 men's Champions League final – but Milan's San Siro “on hold” for 2027 until UEFA gets plans confirmed on revamp.
2026 women's CL final in Oslo. pic.twitter.com/4V6T62BH1Q— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) May 22, 2024
Lega Serie A CEO, Luigi De Siervo, has now warned the Italian Football Federation that this same red tape could scupper Italy Euro 2032 completely, meaning Turkey could end up as the solo hosts. He said:
“If our stadiums are not brought up to code by October 2026, we risk losing the EURO 2032 host games that we were assigned. The matter of stadiums is crucial and we cannot afford to fail. We are down to the last chance because, by October 2026, UEFA will verify our arenas.
“At this moment, we do not want to apportion blame, but we must prove that we are united and find the economic resources and responsibility that we need. The infrastructures must not be built just for big events, but always.”
Italian Minister of Sport: ‘We need to take action'
That same sentiment has worryingly been echoed by the Italian government, namely Andrea Abodi – the country's Minister of Sport, who stated that Italy “must take action” action quickly to avoid losing out on their bid to host Euro 2032.
Speaking on the matter, Abodi said: “For EURO 2032, we need to name five or six stadiums by October 2026 and then open the building works within April 2027. I put together a working group along with Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, to form the adequate financial and administrative solutions so there can be no more alibis.”
Before going on to state that: “We are too far behind on these matters and the time has gone for just meetings, we need to take action.”
The last time there were wholesale renovations of stadiums in the country came ahead of the 1990 World Cup hosted in Italy, and the consensus among fans is that without major competitions, there simply aren't the finances present to improve their grounds, which is the reason why so many of them are currently deemed inadequate by UEFA.