Turkey will submit a bid to host Euro 2032.

When UEFA determines where to hold Euro 2032 this week, Turkey is finally expected to receive the hosting rights for a significant international football tournament after four previous unsuccessful attempts.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has long desired to organize one of the most famous athletic events in the world.

Despite the fact that the nation is engulfed in an economic crisis and the yearly inflation rate is hovering around 60%, he is now about to get the chance.

The hosts for the 2028 and 2032 European Championships will be revealed at a meeting of UEFA’s executive committee on Tuesday.

Turkey dropped its application to host the tournament in 2028 in order to concentrate all of its efforts on a joint proposal with Italy to host the event four years later.

There are no competitors for that offer.

Erdogan is not pretending to be interested in football, which is the most popular sport in Turkey; he played the sport in his youth and is a devoted fan of Fenerbahce, one of the largest clubs in the nation.

One of the pinnacles of his rule would be getting the chance to host the biggest sporting event in Europe.

Additionally, it would have strong political symbolism.

According to Daghan Irak, an English lecturer in media communication at the University of Huddersfield, “sport has always been seen as a way for Turkey to forge its own legitimacy and compete equally with the rest of the western world.”

“Erdogan has not departed from that traditional course of action.”

Erdogan was appointed prime minister at the end of 2002, the same year that Turkey and Greece’s combined application to host Euro 2008 was rejected. At the time, ties between the two nations were improving.

Austria and Switzerland received the tournament’s awards from UEFA.

Later, Turkey entered a competition to host Euro 2012 on its own but lost to a joint Ukraine-Poland bid. In 2016, it was defeated by France.

– Concerns for human rights –

They eventually lost out to Germany for Euro 2024, with concerns raised by UEFA regarding the nation’s “lack of an action plan in the area of human rights” in the appraisal of the bid.

Turkey is now guaranteed to have its shot after four failed tries and having allied with Italy. There are no other competitors.

Erdogan has not announced an amnesty for the tens of thousands of political opponents who have been jailed, despite the fact that human rights issues still exist in the wake of his re-election as president in May.

Osman Kavala, a benefactor and philanthropist convicted of funding anti-government demonstrations in 2013, was just given a life sentence by Turkey’s Court of Cassation.

Kavala won’t be eligible for an early release and will serve his time in isolation.

Nacho Sanchez Amor, the rapporteur for Turkey in the European Parliament, stated that these moves “unfortunately continue to undermine Turkey’s prospects of joining the EU.”

Questions concerning Turkish stadiums have also caused previous Turkish bids to be rejected.

Bagis Erten, a contributor to Socrates and a professor of sports communication at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, claims that this is no longer an issue.

He claims that the AKP (the party in power since 2002) is skilled at construction.

They enjoy that. We now have a ton of excellent stadiums.

Erten provides examples from a number of medium-sized cities, including Izmir, the third-largest city in the nation and located on the Aegean Sea coast, Konya and Eskisehir in Central Anatolia, and Trabzon on the Black Sea.

“Our stadiums are now better prepared than in a lot of other countries,” he continues.

He asserts that while Turkey “is absolutely in a position to host the Euro, in economic and security terms as well as for its footballing culture and the crowds that go to matches,” Turkey “could not bid to host a global event like the Olympics.”

Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul played host to the UEFA Champions League final in June, which saw Manchester City defeat Inter Milan.

Turkey is now prepared, according to Erten.

Irak continues, “Organizing an international football tournament is much easier for Erdogan’s Turkey than respecting the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.”