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Euro 2008 race at last hurdle

The bidding cities hoping to host UEFA's Euro 2008 tournament are making their final presentations to European soccer's governing body today, ahead of tomorrow's final decision.

In what is perceived as a close race, the seven candidates - Austria/Switzerland, Sweden/Denmark/Norway/ Finland, Scotland/Ireland, Hungary, Greece/Turkey, Russia, and Bosnia/Croatia - are making a 15-minute presentation to UEFA chiefs.

With the UEFA Executive Committee starting a two-day meeting tomorrow, it is anticipated a decision will be announced tomorrow, with the subject high on the agenda.

Said Simon Lyons, marketing director of the joint Scotland/Ireland bid, speaking to the BBC: "We are up against some pretty tough competition and the decision is not just a straight-forward merited one.
"It involves politics as well which is much harder to read. But we believe we have a very strong case on paper and on merit.
"People have their political views and perceptions but it is whether those are strong.
"Very few will have made up their mind before the presentation.
"They will go into that presentation with a very open mind - very few of the delegates will have buttoned down their decision before then."
sportbusiness.com