| The French Football Federation (FFF) announced on Wednesday that Montpellier and Metz would not be on the shortlist. The 12 cities named are Nice (new stadium), Marseille (renovations to Stade Vélodrome), Toulouse (renovations to Stadium), Bordeaux (new stadium), Saint-Etienne (renovations to Geoffroy-Guichard), Lyon (new stadium), Lille (new stadium), Lens (renovations to Félix-Bollaert), Strasbourg (Ligue 2 club, renovations to Le Meinau), Nancy (renovations to Marcel-Picot), Paris (renovations to Parc des Princes) and Saint-Denis (no work needed to Stade de France).
Nine cities will host matches and three cities will provide back-up in case of difficulties or delays to construction projects. The FFF did not specify which cities fall into which category. The French government has promised 150 million euros of state aid for the work needed.
Thiriez: "15,000 jobs"
Thiriez said: "Euro 2016 is a historic opportunity for us to take a giant stride forwards: on average our stadia are 66 years old. Renovation of existing stadia is not just something which concerns football, what's at stake involves cities, regions and the central state.
"Our stadia are underused. They should become life hubs. The overall cost of the work will be in the region of 1.6 billion euros and will mean the creation of 15,000 jobs between now and 2014. The new stadia will bring in gate money to our clubs making them less dependent on TV money, as is the case in Germany."
Decision in May 2010
Italy, Turkey and a joint bid from Norway and Sweden are the other candidates. Bids have to be formally lodged on February 15 2010 and UEFA will make its decision on May 28 2010.
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LFP president Frédéric Thiriez has hailed Euro 2016 as a “historic opportunity” for French football to modernise its stadia and loosen the game’s financial dependence on the sale of TV rights. 10 Ligue 1 clubs were named among the 12 grounds making up the French candidacy.