England lose out in Euro Under-21 bid

England and Wales have lost their rival bids to host the 2013 European Under-21 Championships after Uefa chose Israel for the tournament. Israel won the vote in Nyon yesterday with Bulgaria and the Czech Republic the other bidders.

If England had won, it would have made life easier for the FA in terms of preparing a team for the London Olympics. Had England been 2013 hosts they would not have needed to play in any of the Under-21 qualifying matches and could instead have played a series of Team GB friendlies in preparation for the Games.