The Italian Football Federation has confirmed that it would be happy to launch a joint bid to host the 2016 European Championship with a neighbouring country.
Italy were favourites to host Euro 2012 but surprisingly lost to Poland and Ukraine, and, after missing out, plans have already begun for a bid to stage the finals in 2016.
Last week, Uefa announced it had received individual bids from Italy, France and Turkey, and a joint proposal from Sweden-Norway.
But with the 2016 tournament featuring 24 teams and a requirement for nine stadiums, each holding at least 30,000 spectators, there has been speculation Italy and France could join forces.
And the Italian Football Federation has not ruled out a combined effort, with president Giancarlo Abete telling RAI radio: “We don’t have any problems with forming a joint bid. It would be with a neighbouring country, and one that we’re friendly with.
“If it’s not technically or politically possible, we’ll play all our cards.
“We want to see if it’s possible to find common points of interest. If it’s not possible, we shouldn’t be afraid to compete (alone).
“It would be a great opportunity and extra motivation to improve our stadiums.
“We’re waiting for Uefa to give us the OK, then we’ll start working on our dossier.”
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