Culture
European Soccer Has Reorganized Around Cities, and It Could Be Awesome
Europe's 2020 soccer championship will, for the first time, not be awarded to any particular set of countries.
Last week's decision to hold the 2020 European Football Championship in cities across Europe has brought UEFA, European soccer's governing body, a level of scorn typically reserved for bad calls, divers, and FIFA.
The Euros, like the World Cup, can be a source of national pride (and shame and sorrow, of course) and the competition has traditionally been staged that way. Since it began in 1958, teams, staff and thousands of supporters have converged on one or two countries for a month: Portugal in 2004, Austria and Switzerland in 2008, Poland and Ukraine in 2012. The host countries become synonymous with the tournament itself, putting a cultural stamp on the games and defining their social atmosphere.