French federation names host cities for Euro 2016

By foxsports
Published

The French football federation has named the nine cities that will host matches during the 2016 European championships.

Bordeaux, Lens, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy, Nice, Paris and Saint-Denis were chosen on Friday ahead of Saint-Etienne and Toulouse, which have been named as reserve locations.

The northern town of Lens was chosen despite its club being demoted to the second division this season.

French federation president Fernand Duchaussoy said ''all the bids were of a very, very high standard, but the choice was very clear and decided at the first round of voting.''

Lyon was included despite legal problems surrounding the building of a new stadium in the city. Four new stadiums in Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon and Nice will be built for the competition.