2016 club finals and 2020 decisions

The selection of the 13 host associations for UEFA EURO 2020, and the appointment of the venues to stage the UEFA club competition finals in 2016, top the list of priorities, when the UEFA Executive Committee comes together for its latest meeting from today.

The committee, chaired by UEFA President Michel Platini, will first convene at the House of European Football in Nyon on Thursday afternoon, starting at 13.00CET. The major decision on the agenda will be to choose the stadiums to hold the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals in two years' time, following Berlin and Warsaw respectively in 2015.

An update will be given on the European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2016, which got under way this month. For the first time, qualifying matches are being played under the innovative new 'Week of Football' concept, which sees games spread out from Thursday to Tuesday, and gives fans the opportunity to watch more matches than ever as countries strive to reach the UEFA EURO 2016 final round in France.

In addition, the committee will hear about the state of preparations for the 2016 tournament, which takes place from 10 June to 10 July 2016 and which will feature 24 teams. A total of 51 games will be scheduled over 32 days at ten French venues – Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.

Other items on the agenda include deliberations on the procedure to be observed in the event of a player suffering concussion – following several high-profile incidents, the interest of the global sports community has recently become particularly focused on this area. The Executive Committee will also be asked to approve the regulations of the 2015–17 UEFA European Women's Championship. The meeting is scheduled to end at 18.00CET and will be followed by a press conference attended by UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino.

Friday then brings the eagerly awaited announcement of the 13 host associations who will stage matches at UEFA EURO 2020. The Executive Committee's selection of the successful associations will be made at a ceremony at the Espace Hippomène in Geneva from 13.00CET.

The decision to organise a 'EURO for Europe' in various major cities throughout the continent follows an initial idea presented by UEFA President Michel Platini in consultation with UEFA's member associations. The matches have been split into 13 different packages: there are 12 standard packages, including three group games and one knockout round fixture (round of 16 or quarter-finals), and one package for the semi-finals and the final.

Nineteen member associations/cities submitted bid dossiers to UEFA by the 25 April deadline. UEFA has also published evaluation reports of the UEFA EURO 2020 bids following an intensive analysis of the bidding dossiers tendered by all candidate associations.