FRENCH football chief Jean-Pierre Escalettes today dismissed any suggestions his country will be submitting a joint bid with Italy to host Euro 2016, insisting: "We are going it alone."
Bernard Laporte, France's secretary for sport, yesterday spoke of the possibility of a "joint organisation" with the Italians - both countries having declared an interest in being tournament hosts.
But French Football Federation president Escalettes believes France, who hosted a successful World Cup in 1998, have the ability to run a successful tournament on their own.
"We are going there to win and we are going for it alone," he is quoted as saying on the French league's website, www.lfp.fr.
"France, a great football nation with 2,500,000 registered footballers, must go it alone in this conquest.
"There is a common desire of everyone in football (in France) to do it and do it alone.
"There has been no official contact with the Italian federation."
Potential candidates have until Monday to officially inform UEFA, European football's governing body, of their decision to submit an application.
UEFA will announce on April 1 if those countries who have declared an interest in being hosts can go forward with their bids. The winner will be chosen in May next year.
Sweden and Norway have already announced plans to make a joint bid for the Euros, and Laporte told L'Equipe that France and Italy could do likewise.
"It's the federation who will decide and it will do what it wants. But me, I prefer to share and to win," said the former head coach of France's rugby union team.
"I hear people speaking of this idea of a joint organisation, and we will talk about it during our meeting [with his Italian counterparts].
"The ideal thing would be to go it alone. But if an association is the price to pay and if we can't do anything else, I would not put any obstacles in front of it."
Laporte changed tack today, saying France "would of course go it alone".
"If France aren't capable of organising Euro 2016 alone, it would be a concern for us," he said.
Frederic Thiriez, the president of the French league, indicated last month he would be against the idea of submitting a joint bid.
"France doesn't need anybody," he said.
"We are big enough to organise a world event. We have the ability, the experience. It is a question of prestige."
Like France, Italy (1990) have successfully hosted a recent World Cup - while the Italians lost out to Poland and Ukraine for the right to host Euro 2012.
But French Football Federation president Escalettes believes France, who hosted a successful World Cup in 1998, have the ability to run a successful tournament on their own.
"We are going there to win and we are going for it alone," he is quoted as saying on the French league's website, www.lfp.fr.
"France, a great football nation with 2,500,000 registered footballers, must go it alone in this conquest.
"There is a common desire of everyone in football (in France) to do it and do it alone.
"There has been no official contact with the Italian federation."
Potential candidates have until Monday to officially inform UEFA, European football's governing body, of their decision to submit an application.
UEFA will announce on April 1 if those countries who have declared an interest in being hosts can go forward with their bids. The winner will be chosen in May next year.
Sweden and Norway have already announced plans to make a joint bid for the Euros, and Laporte told L'Equipe that France and Italy could do likewise.
"It's the federation who will decide and it will do what it wants. But me, I prefer to share and to win," said the former head coach of France's rugby union team.
"I hear people speaking of this idea of a joint organisation, and we will talk about it during our meeting [with his Italian counterparts].
"The ideal thing would be to go it alone. But if an association is the price to pay and if we can't do anything else, I would not put any obstacles in front of it."
Laporte changed tack today, saying France "would of course go it alone".
"If France aren't capable of organising Euro 2016 alone, it would be a concern for us," he said.
Frederic Thiriez, the president of the French league, indicated last month he would be against the idea of submitting a joint bid.
"France doesn't need anybody," he said.
"We are big enough to organise a world event. We have the ability, the experience. It is a question of prestige."
Like France, Italy (1990) have successfully hosted a recent World Cup - while the Italians lost out to Poland and Ukraine for the right to host Euro 2012.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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