Events

Nordic nations target record Women’s Euro 2025

Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden

Featured image credit: Stockholm Live

The football associations of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland have today (Wednesday) submitted their joint bid for Women’s Euro 2025 to UEFA, seeking to break more records on the back of England’s staging of the tournament this summer.

With the further “support” of the Faroe Islands and Iceland, the Nordic bid aims to deliver the biggest Women’s Euro to date. Under the plan set out today, more than 800,000 tickets would be made available for sale, with Stockholm’s 50,000-seat Friends Arena – the largest stadium in the region – confirmed for the final.

The four capital cities of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki are all included in bid, along with one additional city from each of the four countries – Odense (Denmark), Göteborg (Sweden), Trondheim (Norway), and Tampere (Finland). The Nordics 2025 bid is founded on a vision to “inspire to build truly equal opportunities for women’s football across Europe”.

The Swedish Football Association (SVFF) said that along with Friends Arena, the home of the women’s national team, Gamla Ullevi in Göteborg, would be used, along with the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm.

UEFA criteria for the championship stipulate that all matches must be played on natural grass. Therefore, a natural grass pitch will be installed at Tele2 Arena if the Nordic application is successful, temporarily replacing the current artificial playing surface.

The Danish Football Union (DBU) said it will stage the tournament’s opening game, while the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) stated it will host one group at Ullevaal Stadion and Lerkendal Stadion, in addition to a quarter-final at the former venue in Oslo.

The Nordic associations have worked on the bid for the past four years, stating their vision offers a compact tournament set-up to build connections within the Nordic and European cities in the “spirit of sustainable development”.

Karl-Erik Nilsson, president of the SVFF, said: “Together we are stronger. Together we will provide a unique experience for both players and supporters. All Nordic football associations agree about the importance of organising major championships in our countries, and together we have great ambitions for the development of women’s football.

“The UEFA Women’s Euro in the Nordic countries will strengthen women’s football with a focus on sustainability, safety, and equal societies.”

Jesper Møller, president of the DBU, added: “The Nordic bid for UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 is much more than a championship – it is team work to grow women’s football in all of Europe and to ensure the continued development of women’s football for equal opportunities, more diversity and better sustainability across our common Nordic visions and values.

“With Euro 2020 in fresh memory, where Denmark showed its event potential, we will reuse and refine all the good experiences to once again create a celebration for all fans. With a joint Nordic bid, we will display not just Denmark but the entire Nordic approach to women’s football and innovative event management – and we will do it on the foundation of solidarity, which is the core value of the European sports model.”

The French Football Federation (FFF) today said its executive committee has selected the eight cities of Lens, Lyon, Metz, Nantes, Paris, Reims, Rennes and Valenciennes for its bid. UEFA’s guidelines impose the pairing of two cities to each host a group.

France hosted the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the FFF has submitted a Euros bid pairing Rennes-Nantes, Lens-Valenciennes, Reims-Metz and Paris-Lyon. The application file also includes two reserve host cities: Le Havre and Troyes.

The Swiss Football Association (SFV) also confirmed today that it has submitted a bid to UEFA. The SFV said the candidacy has received “broad support” from the Swiss government and the cantons. The city and cantonal governments of the planned venues have made financial commitments of CHF45m (£40.9m/€46.6m/$45.2m) should Switzerland win the bid.

The SVF last month said it is planning to stage the Euro in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St. Gallen, Sion, Lausanne, Lucerne and Thun if its bid is successful.

SFV president, Dominique Blanc, said today: “We are an open-minded country that is committed to equality and equal opportunities. A European Championship in Switzerland is a huge opportunity to present ourselves to the world and at the same time to further promote girls’ and women’s football in Switzerland.”

The Nordic bid, France and Switzerland were all named by UEFA as being among a record five declarations of interest for Women’s Euro 2025 back in November 2021. Poland and Ukraine were also put forward, although for the latter this came before Russia’s invasion.

UEFA and the English Football Association (FA) last week released a post-tournament flash impact report for Women’s Euro 2022, a tournament that broke several attendance records.

UEFA is due to decide on the host of Women’s Euro 2025 at its executive committee meeting on January 25.