HOW IT WORKS: The process of selecting a winner from the seven bids will get under way on Wednesday afternoon at UEFA's headquarters in the Swiss town of Nyon. Each of the seven campaigns will have 10 minutes to address the National Teams Committee and 20 minutes to make a video or other presentation. The bidders will present in alphabetical order, with the Scots and Irish last.
Members of the committee which has overseen the entire process and carried out technical inspections of the proposed venues, will then list each of the bids in order of preference, taking into account the content of the presentation as well as the broader assessments made of each bid on the basis of facilities, government support, public enthusiasm and a range of other factors. These lists will be forwarded to the members of UEFA's executive committee which will meet to commence its deliberations the following morning.
The first task facing the committee will be to reduce the list of candidates from seven to a shortlist of either two or three. None of those members whose own country is involved in the bidding shall be allowed to take part in this stage of the process. Thus, six of the 14-strong committee, including Egert Magnusson of Iceland, whose association has formally declared its support for the Nordic bid, will be excluded from the first phase.
Once the decision on the shortlist is made, those members whose countries have been eliminated may vote in the remaining ballots. If three countries remain at this stage and none gains an absolute majority, the bid receiving the lowest number of votes will be eliminated and the members shall make a final choice between the remaining two.
The Scots and Irish appear to believe they have the support of at least two members - most likely Geoffrey Thompson of England and Malta's Dr Joseph Mifsud.
The Swiss and Austrians, generally seen as supporters of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, should be able to rely on Blatter's loyal follower Michel Platini as well as Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder of Germany and Luxembourg's Henri Roemer. Angel Maria Villar Llona of Spain is seen as another potential vote as is, if the Russians go out early, Dr Viacheslov Kolokov.
The Swiss member, Giangiorgio Spiess, is unlikely to get a vote, as nobody expects the favourites to be eliminated before the final round, and there is a perception that Ireland and Scotland's chances rest on the Nordics going out, bringing into play the votes of Lennart Johansson, Per Ravn Omdal and Magnusson.
A barrier to this is the potential for Johansson to use his influence to keep the Scandinavians in the race, but it is not expected that the Swede would seek to manipulate the process.
"I don't think he's that sort of person," says Keir Radnedge, a regular commentator on the internal politics of UEFA for World Soccer magazine. "In any case he won't still be president when the tournament takes place so it's not as if he'll get to play the grand old figure bringing the championships home in six years time."
Ireland's former executive committee member Des Casey agrees. "The whole process is obviously highly political," he says, "but the majority of the committee's members will certainly take into account the final presentations and so a good deal does depend on the sort of impression we make next Wednesday."
Among those not directly involved, the consensus is still that the Austrians and Swiss retain the edge over the Scots/Irish and Nordic bids, with Radnedge giving the Russians an outside chance.
"When Platini and a couple of the others got onto the committee," he says, "it did have the effect of tipping the balance of power somewhat. That French/German grouping may go a long way towards giving the Austrians and Swiss the numbers they need. But it's not over yet and if the Irish and Scots do stay in longer than the Scandinavians, then they're certainly in with a chance."
UEFA's Executive Committee
*Lennart Johansson (Sweden), *Senes Erzik (Turkey), *Per Ravn Omdal (Norway), Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain), Geoffrey Thompson (England), Dr Matthieu Sprengers (Netherlands), *Dr Viacheslov Kolokov (Russia), Marios N Lefkaritas (Cyprus), *Egert Magnusson (Iceland), Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder (Germany), Dr Joseph Mifsud (Malta), Michael Platini (France), *Giangiorgio Spiess (Switzerland), Henri Roemer (Luxembourg).
* denotes member ineligible to vote in opening round of deliberations.
