It is hard even in the space of a few days not to be struck by the potential of Turkey as a host of a major football championship. To give it to Turkey against the background of the country’s current political climate would be outrageous. They are, in turn, rooted in the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document Turkey signed up to in 1948. Any suggestion that Turkey is currently respecting these rights would be a tough one for its bid team to stand over. Platini’s successor, Aleksander Ceferin says “the protection of human rights and labour rights must be of the utmost importance to Uefa”.

Source: The Irish Times March 28, 2018 13:52 UTC