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What’s Eastern Europe getting from EURO 2020?

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EURO 2020 takes European football to 12 different cities, four of which are in eastern Europe, writes Cristian Gherasim, Bucharest correspondent. Baku, Bucharest, Budapest and Sankt Petersburg have all hosted EURO 2020 matches, but what does that mean from a cultural and economic standpoint?

Making the decision the stretch the tournament throughout almost an entire continent wasn’t an easy one but it was based on the idea that more of Europe should take part in organizing, hosting and enjoying the tournament.

The idea came to light 8 years ago, back when Michel Platini was Uefa president. He wanted to have a tournament for the entire continent, 'Euros for Europe', and that’s what he got nine years later. Yet the trouble of hosting the tournament in uncharted territories such as it was the case in 2016 with Poland and Ukraine being the hosts, can prove fatal.

A mix between west and east proved more enticing, particularly useful in bringing smaller countries to the table.

EURO 2020 has no host nation, but a myriad of organizing cities.

2021, the year of EURO 2020, saw several questions emerge: will eastern Europe be up to the task of organizing such a large scale event and how much would the local economy gain from this? Also, would we see an eastern or central European nation take home the coveted trophy?

With Czech Republic still in the game after a spectacular win in the knockout stage over the Netherlands, tournament favorites , Central Europe might see its first ever team edging towards the Henri Delaunay Trophy.

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So far, host nations in central and eastern Europe have done a decent job in seeing the tournament through.

On Monday, 28 June, Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, hosted its last match out of the four allocated for this city. This is particularly important since this is a round of 16 fixture, pitting France against Switzerland, with a spectacular win from Switzerland.

For Bucharest, and the host nation of Romania, organizing a first ever large scale event can have its economic benefits, especially after the hospitality industry was hard hit by the COVID-19 restrictions.

From a financial point of view, organizing EURO 2020 tournament is a benefit for the host country and city. The expenses of the capital's mayor's office for organizing the four games on the National Arena Stadium was 14 million Ron, close to €3m.

It is yet unclear how much Bucharest would win from the tournament, but bars and terraces throughout the city have been full to brim with supporters of the teams competing on the pitch.

According to an analysis, with only 13,000 spectators in the stands, 25% of the capacity of the National Arena, Bucharest gets €3.6m from ticket sales. With bars, restaurants and hotels, the capital of Romania could get an additional €14.2m.

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