Swiss, French cities pull out of Euro 2020 race

GENEVA, Apr 26 (AFP): Switzerland Friday became the latest country to pull out of the race to host matches at Euro 2020, the first continent-wide edition of Europe's top international football tournament.

The Swiss Football Federation announced that it had decided not pursue its bid to have the St. Jakob-Park stadium in the northern city of Basel included on the 13-venue list due to be drawn up by the sport's European governing body UEFA.

SFF president Peter Gillieron said the fact that Switzerland hosted Euro 2008 along with neighbouring Austria was a major factor.

"We felt that countries which have organised the European championships over the past 12 years had, at best, a slim chance of being picked for Euro 2020," he said in a statement.

As a result, said SFF secretary general Alex Miescher, the federation did not feel able to make the financial investment nor to muster support from local and national politicians.