Italy are to bid to host the Euro 2016 finals the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced on Monday despite losing out to host the 2012 edition to Poland and Ukraine.

Giancarlo Abete, president of FIGC, made the announcement following a board meeting and added they would be sending a letter to UEFA later in the week confirming the bid.

Candidates for the first Euro to involve 24 teams have until March 9 to inform UEFA that they want to bid – the vote by the UEFA Executive Committee as to who hosts the championships will be taken on May 27, 2010.

UEFA has insisted that the host country has nine stadia.

Opposing Italy for the moment are France, who hosted it in 1984, and a joint bid by Norway and Sweden.

Scotland and Wales have abandoned a planned joint bid to host the 2016 European Championships due to the economic downturn, Welsh football chiefs said Sunday.

The Football Association of Wales said UEFA’s decision to expand the tournament to 24 teams was also a factor.

“After careful consideration, the FAW and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) have decided not to make a joint bid to host the Euro 2016 Football Championships,” the governing body said on its website.

FAW secretary general David Collins added: “The current economic downturn and the very considerable implications for infrastructure provision following UEFA’s decision to expand the European Championship finals to 24 teams are key considerations.

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