French claim to be 2016 outsiders 15/01/2010 |
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French Football Federation director general Jacques Lambert has played down his country’s chances of hosting the 2016 European Championships.
France, bidding to stage the tournament for the first time since 1984, is up against Turkey and Italy in the 2016 race, and Lambert has denied the French are favourites.
He pointed to the 2012 Olympics contest, when London beat favourites Paris, and said: “It is a form of danger to be in the position of favourite. Remember Paris 2012? The country was in that position and we know what happened.”
Lambert identified Turkey as France’s “number one competitor”, saying that its bid was “extremely strong”.
He added: “Turkey was a candidate on two previous occasions. It has a benefit of priority that we cannot remove. The Turkish Federation will release a bid of very high quality.”
Lambert believes Italy is also a dangerous rival and claimed: “Somehow we are the smallest.”
Uefa will announce the tournament hosts on May 28.
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