Zagreb (Croatia), April 26 (IANS): The Croatian Football Federation (CFF) has decided to drop its candidacy as one of the hosts for the Euro 2020 to be held in 13 European countries.
The decision comes as a result of the Croatian government's reluctance to support the candidacy which was the primary condition of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). In accordance with Croatian sports law, the capital Zagreb and the second biggest city of Split were the candidate cities, reports Xinhua.
CFF president Davor Suker wrote to UEFA president Michel Platini Friday explaining the reasons why they have to drop out of the race.
"Unfortunately, because of a challenging economic situation in the country and despite the support from both Zagreb and Split, which would be great host cities, Croatian government didn't respond to the formal request from CFF leaving us with just one option and that is to drop our candidacy," Suker wrote.
This is the second time in seven years that Croatia had a chance to host the most prestigious football competition in Europe. In 2007, Croatia and Hungary were in the final round with their unified bid to host Euro 2012 but Poland and Ukraine came out winners in that race.