On Thursday morning, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) made an official announcement, formally putting forward Italy’s candidacy to host Euro 2032, the prestigious European football championship.
This bid has also been backed by the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR), indicating a potential ripple effect for the nation’s bid to host the Rugby World Cup.
With ten cities expressing their interest in hosting Euro 2032, including Milan, Turin, Verona, Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Bari, and Cagliari, Italy’s bid boasts an impressive array of potential venues. Many of these cities are no strangers to Test match rugby, with some even holding records for the highest rugby attendance in the country. For instance, Milan saw a staggering 80,074 fans pack into the San Siro stadium for a Test match between the Italian national team, known as the Azzurri, and New Zealand in 2009.
As Italy vies for the opportunity to host Euro 2032, the support from the Italian Rugby Federation and the potential for stadium upgrades across the nation could also bolster their bid to host the Rugby World Cup in the future.
In the statement on the Italian union’s website they said: “The Italian Rugby Federation expresses its full support for the candidacy of the Italian Football Federation to host Euro2032 and wishes the best success to President (Gabriele) Gravina, the federal structure and all the stakeholders involved.
“The Italian rugby governing body intends to work in synergy with the FIGC and with all the stakeholders involved to ensure that the process of upgrading the stadiums identified in the dossier takes place taking into due consideration the needs of elite international rugby, an essential condition for be able to present, in the immediate future, an Italian candidacy for the 2035 (Men’s) and 2037 (Women’s) Rugby World Cup.”
THREE OTHER CONTENDERS TO HOST 2035 WORLD CUP:
#1. Japan
Planet Rugby has reported that Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) chairman Kensuke Iwabuchi has also informed World Rugby that his country wants to host the Rugby World Cup as early as 2035.
“We’ve informed World Rugby that we want to do it then at the earliest (2035), and we will move forward looking at when the conditions allow us to actually host it,” he said.
