Brazil Update

We hosted a final Brazil Day at Excelsior Academy before the schools broke up for Summer. A great day had by all and they will be doing activities in September to raise funds towards the project.

We spent some time in Birmingham with StreetGames to support the youth conference as Young Advisors. We met Rik Waddon, a Paralympian who competed in Beijing and London.

We have some new kit with an adapted Lionsraw logo. The popularity has surprised us because initially they were just for us to use on Brazil Days, in meetings and when we leave for Curitiba.

If you have ever wondered what the school thought of a Brazil Day well now you can see thanks to this interview with Holystone Primary School's headteacher!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruMQ0OcePP4

For those of you in Brazil:

Brazilian friends we have news for you. If you have TV Bandeirantes our interview will feature on these days at these times:

- "Jornal da Band" next Tuesday 6th August. At 7:30pm (Brazil time/horario Brasileiro).
- "Jornal da Noite" on Thursday 8th August. At 12:30am.
- "Band Esporte Clube" on Sunday 11th August. At 2pm.
- "Jogo Aberto" on Wednesday 14th August. At 11:15am.

Thanks for all the support so far!

EUROS FOR EUROPE 2020

UEFA announce multiple cities to host EURO 2020

Euro 2020 will be held across multiple host cities across Europe which will change from the usual format of one or two countries hosting the tournament every four years. UEFA have described the proposal as a 'Euros for Europe'. The home nations have already expressed an interest in staging matches while the FA have put Wembley forward as a host venue. The bidding process between cities will start early in 2013 and will end in 2014.

We can see the benefits of an individual city hosting part of the event as it does provide a feel good factor among the local residents who have a chance to welcome new people to their city and showcase what they have to offer. Due to the economic climate it can also provide less pressure on a country to develop football stadiums and infrastructure to cope with a major sporting event, especially as the event will change to a 24 team tournament from 2016.

However it might affect the unique atmosphere one or two countries have been hosting the entire event. It will deny fans the chance to get involved with a host countries culture, remove any tourism benefits and might lose national pride from hosting a major sporting event. It may cause logistical issues getting around Europe for fans wanting to watch their team depending on how UEFA would like the event to run.

It is going to be a change to the traditional format to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the event and might be a one off change. Either way it is certainly an interesting idea and has people talking about what might happen.

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