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Germany mulls bid for Euro 2024 soccer tournament The head of the German Football Federation has said it is mulling a bid to host the 2024 Euro Championships. It might all depend on what slice of the action Germany gets in hosting a pan-European tournament in 2020. The president of the German Football Federation (DFB), Wolfgang Niersbach, said his organization was considering an application to host the tournament, but that the decision would have to wait. In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Niersbach said Germany would wait to see if it was chosen to host the final phase - the semifinals and final - of the European Championships in 2020. European football's governing body UEFA announced in January that the tournament would be staged in 13 different cities across the continent. UEFA plans that no country should have more than one stadium in the tournament, but that the semifinals and finals should take place at the same venue. "UEFA will announce the 13 host cities in September 2014 ... Thereafter we will be able to decide what to do," said Niersbach. "If we look at the European map, we can say with assurance - and not arrogance - that we have the ability to organise such a complex tournament," he said. Istanbul is 2020 favorite No nation will qualify automatically for the 2020 tournament finals, but every host country that does make it through will be guaranteed two home matches in the group phase. Turkey has been favorite to host the last part of the tournament, but only if Istanbul is not successful in securing the summer Olympic Games for that same year. That decision is to be made in early September. The last time that Germany hosted a tournament was at the 2006 World Cup, but it has not hosted a European Championships since 1988, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The tournament, which currently has 16 competing nations, is set to move to a 24-country format from 2016, when it will be hosted in France. rc/ipj (AFP, dpa) http://www.dw.de/germany-mulls-bid-for-euro-2024-soccer-tournament/a-16964112

These are the European Stadiums, that I think deserve the UEFA 5 Star Rating. Some that I include, are already 5 Stars by UEFA, some were left out by UEFA. Here they are: (Bold = Existing 5 Star; Normal = I think deserve 5 Star): (These also include Under Construction/Proposed Stadiums). Wembley Stadium, London, England (90,000 Seats). Emirates Stadium, London, England (60,361 Seats). Olympic Stadium, London, England (80,000 Seats (56,000 Seats)). Nou Camp, Barcelona, Spain (100,000 Seats (Will be 106,000 Seats)). Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain (85,000 Seats (Will be 95,000 Seats)). Stadium La Peineta, Madrid, Spain (73,000 Seats). San Mames Stadium, Bilbao, Spain (54,000 Seats). Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany (71,000 Seats). Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany (66,000 Seats, when All-Seater). Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany (62,000 Seats). Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart, Germany (61,000 Seats). Imtech Arena, Hamburg, Germany (58,000 Seats). Esprit Arena, Dusseldorf, Germany (55,000 Seats). Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany (53,000 Seats). RheinEnergieStadium, Cologne, Germany (51,000 Seats). Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland (51,700 Seats). Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales (75,000 Seats). Stadium de France, Paris (St Denis), France (81,000 Seats). Stadium Velodrome, Marseille, France (67,000 Seats). Stadium des Lumieres, Lyon, France (61,000 Seats). Grand Stadium Lille, Lille, France (51,000 Seats) Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Holland (53,000 Seats). Stadium da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal (65,000 Seats). Stadium do Dragao, Porto, Portugal (51,000 Seats). Stadium Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal (50,000 Seats). Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan (68,700 Seats). Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece (71,000 Seats). New Puskas Ferenc Stadium, Budapest, Hungary (65,000 Seats). National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland (58,000 Seats). New Chorzow Stadium, Chorzow, Poland (56,000 Seats). National Stadium, Bucharest, Romania (55,600 Seats). Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia (81,000 Seats after Reconstruction). Friends Arena, Stockholm (Solna), Sweden (50,000 Seats). Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey (76,000 Seats). Turk Telekom Arena, Istanbul, Turkey (53,000 Seats). Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey (51,000 Seats). Olympic Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine (70,050 Seats). Donbass Arena, Donetsk, Ukraine (53,000 Seats). These are the Stadiums I believe deserve Highest Rating of UEFA European Stadiums. Of course, others might want to add/remove Stadiums, so feel free to create your own list. I've done my research on this. I believe Highest Rated Stadiums should be 50,000 or Higher Seating Capacity, Unobstructed Views and Modern.