Euro 2020 Raises Stink With Environmentalists And Costs Fans More

The 2020 edition of the UEFA European Championship (Euro 2020) which is being hosted in 12 countries, has hit a nerve with both environmentalists and fans.

The 2020 edition of the UEFA European Championship (Euro 2020) which is being hosted in 12 countries, has hit a nerve with both environmentalists and fans.

The once-off format being used in Euro 2020 will see the tournament being played in 12 different countries across Europe to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Championship and promote European Unity.

However good the intentions are, the realities of the logistics and impact that all this traveling will have on the environment and pocket has gotten people riled up.

Environmentalists are accusing UEFA of not considering the impact of the carbon footprint that all this traveling will leave on the environment as teams along with their traveling supports are expected rack up a lot of mileage as they travel between venues across Europe.

The idea behind the format was to give teams the opportunity to host the tournament at their various home grounds and save whichever country that would have been hosting the tournament, “a huge environmental cost in energy, concrete and other resources.” according to UEFA.

UEFA also says that because countries were now able to host matches at home, the number of traveling supporters would actually be reduced.

UEFA are going a step further in their aim to raise environmental awareness as they have pledged to plant 50,000 trees in each of the host cities as well as offer free public transport on matchdays.

The cost for supporters has also been of concern as where it was once more affordable to just travel to one country and move between the venues as they supported their teams, fans will now have to fly across Europe just to attend the various matches.

Polish traveling supporters will have to follow their team over 6,000km as they fly to Dublin, then Bilbao before heading back to Ireland. This all adds up before taking into account that a further trip to London will need to be made should supporters want to watch the semi-finals and finals of the Euro 2020.

As this is just a once-off format, supporters may just have to pay the price at least knowing that next time round in 2024 things will be back to normal as the tournament will only take place in the host nation Germany

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