Friday 21 September 2018 17:52, UK
Germany's bid for the 2024 European Championship received a boost ahead of next Thursday's UEFA executive committee vote when it received a more favourable evaluation report than its Turkish rival.
Published on UEFA's website, the 40-page report assesses each bid in 12 key areas, including the quality of stadiums, the political landscape and transport infrastructure.
Germany's "very high quality" proposal was judged to meet or "comfortably exceed" UEFA's expectations in almost every area bar one: the government's refusal to grant a tax exemption for companies involved in the tournament's "preparation, staging or dismantling", which the report notes will "impact revenues".
The report states that all 10 of the proposed stadiums are in place and only need minor security upgrades, Germany's transport infrastructure is second-to-none, there is plenty of accommodation, the country has a strong record for hosting events and there are no restrictions on advertising for alcohol, tobacco or gambling, unlike Turkey.
In contrast, the Turkish bid got a very mixed review, with its failure to include a tournament-specific commitment to human rights a "matter of concern".
The report also points out Turkey needing to rebuild two stadiums - including Istanbul's centrepiece Ataturk venue - renovate another, upgrade nine airports, build thousands of kilometres of new railways and roads, and address serious hotel shortages in seven of the nine host cities.
There was one area in which Turkey outscored Germany, however: money. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to the Euro 2024 tax exemption and the Turkish government will pay the rent for all the stadiums and training bases, and provide the staff.
Germany's organising committee, though, would have to meet all of those costs, with the German media recently reporting that the stadium rental fee could be more than £269,000 per game.
These concessions from Turkey should more than make up for Germany's overall capacity advantage - 2.78m seats to Turkey's 2.49m, as well as any complications that might arise from Turkey's ban on alcohol advertising.
The final decision will be confirmed by UEFA's executive committee in Nyon, Switzerland on September 27.
In a statement, Germany bid ambassador Philipp Lahm said: "The report has shown that we have taken our work very seriously in the past few months and that UEFA have acknowledged the strengths behind our bid.
"We will give everything we can at the final presentation on Thursday and we ultimately hope that we will win, as Germany is the best place for Euro 2024 to take place."