FRANCE WAS named as host of the 2016 European Championship yesterday after it narrowly defeated Turkey in a ballot of Uefa’s executive committee.

The French prevailed with seven out of 13 votes cast – just one more than Turkey – and will become the first country to host the competition three times. Italy were eliminated after the first round of voting.

“This is a beautiful day for us,” said Jean-Pierre Escalettes, president of the French Football Federation (FFF). “My thoughts are with our friends in Turkey and Italy – I can imagine their disappointment and frustration after months and months of work.”

Euro 2016 will feature 24 countries for the first time – up from 16 in 2012 – and France pledged to invest €1.7 billion in building four new stadiums and renovating a further seven in time for the 51-match tournament.

A beaming French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who had addressed Uefa delegates in a final round of presentations before yesterday’s vote in Geneva, said France would be honoured to host the championship for the first time since 1984.

“Now we’re going to get to work on renovating and building the stadiums. We’re very happy, very honoured,” he said.

In his presentation, Sarkozy said the government and the FFF had initially asked themselves whether it would be a mistake to make a bid in the middle of a crisis. “But sport is an answer to the crisis. It is because we are in a crisis that we need sport. Nothing is more powerful than sport and, within sport, nothing is more powerful that football.”

The French government estimates that yesterday’s win will create 15,000 jobs in the country.

It might also improve their chances of winning the competition, as France have won the last two major tournaments the country has staged – the 1984 European Championship and the 1998 World Cup.

The captain of the winning French side of 1984 – current Uefa president Michel Platini, who is of Italian descent – admitted the contest had put him in an awkward situation.

“It was not an easy situation for me – I am French, my name is Italian and I have many friends in Turkey. But Uefa has proved once again that we have democracy.”

Platini took no part in the vote.

The talisman of the 1998 World Cup-winning team, Zinedine Zidane, was one of the public faces of France’s bid this time around. Yesterday he recalled watching as a child as Platini scored his extra-time goal to help France overcome Portugal in the semi-final in 1984.

“That is the type of experience I want to live again,” said Zidane. “Winning is beautiful but it’s great to see all the people in the streets partying. This is what I would like to give my children.”

The outcome of the ballot was a tough blow for Turkey, whose president, Abdullah Gul, was in Geneva to lend his support. This was the third consecutive time the Turks missed out on the chance to stage the competition, having lost in the contest for Euro 2008 and 2012.

“We all did our best,” said Gul, who had earlier called on Uefa to take a “historic decision” and help bring Turkey closer to the heart of Europe. “We are saddened that it was lost by one point.”

For French football, the triumph could scarcely have come at a better time. The national team travels to South Africa for the World Cup next month to general derision, its public image having not recovered since the dubious win against Ireland to qualify.

€11.7 billion to be invested in tournament

TWELVE cities across France have been selected to stage Euro 2016 matches, with four new stadiums due to be built and seven more to undergo major extensions or renovations.

Under a €1.7 billion public-private investment plan for the tournament, France has pledged to build new grounds in Lille, Lyon, Bordeaux and Nice, with capacities ranging from 40,000 at the Grand Stade de Nice to 61,500 at OL Land in Lyon.

The country’s biggest stadium, the relatively new Stade de France in Paris, will undergo minor work, but the seven remaining grounds are due for major improvement to raise capacity and modernise facilities.

These stadiums due for larger-scale renovations are: Stade Vélodrome, Marseille; Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens; Parc des Princes, Paris; Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne; Stade Municipal, Toulouse; Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg; and Stade Marcel Picot, Nancy.