Sweden and Norway consider joint Euro 2016 bid

Sweden and Norway will decide within a month whether they are capable of co-hosting Euro 2016, according to Swedish Football Association general secretary Sune Hellstromer.

Poland and Ukraine are due to share hosting responsibilities for Euro 2012, but the finals format seems likely to change for 2016 with the tournament set to expand from 16 to 24 teams.

A final decision will be taken by UEFA’s executive committee in September, but there was no opposition to the plan when it was raised at a meeting of association presidents and general secretaries in Vienna on Friday.

“We have discussed with our colleagues from the Norwegian FA about the possibility for Sweden and Norway to bid for 2016,” Hellstromer told PA Sport.

“But before we decide whether we should make that bid we have to set up a working group between the two FAs to find out about the possibilities.

“We have to consider the challenges we expect since we think that UEFA’s executive committee will decide about the new format of the tournament at the end of September.

“Within a month we will decide with our friends from Oslo whether we have the possibility to bid.”

Hellstromer admits that the viability of staging a 24-team tournament is a key issue for the two countries to discuss, with a potential bid set to include four stadia in Sweden and four in Norway.

“The key issue to start with is to find out whether it is possible to play this tournament with eight stadia,” he said.

“If we can’t fulfil the obligations regarding stadia it doesn’t matter how strong we are regarding other matters.

“At first sight it looks like it could be possible to stage the tournament with eight stadia, but we must carefully look into this and discuss it.”

Sweden has a history when it comes to staging the European Championships after it hosted Euro 1992, which saw eight teams compete across four stadia.

The country will welcome the European Under-21 Championships next year and Hellstromer believes the event will provide a perfect showcase for its hosting abilities.

He added: “Next year we are the host for the Under-21 Championships and that is a big tournament. We think if we stage it in a very good way and make everybody satisfied then we will strengthen our position for a bid.”

France is so far the only country to have officially thrown its name into the ring for Euro 2016.