ISTANBUL, Jan 14 (A.A) - Officials of Turkish and Greek football federation, which are the candidate to jointly organize the 2008 European Football Championship finals, met in Istanbul on Sunday.
Football Federation Deputy Chairman Ata Aksu and Greek Football Federation Chairman Vasilis Gagatsis made a press statement following their meeting which lasted for almost five hours.
Aksu said that besides the support of the people, there was a need for the support of the government to be the venue of such an event.
''Political will and declaration is obligatory especially in the level of prime ministers. I believe that we will mark a progress with the support of the two governments,'' Aksu noted.
Aksu went on saying, ''if we are awarded to host the finals, the matches in Turkey will be played in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Antalya. The matches in Greece will be played in Athens, Salonica, Patras, Iraklion and Volos.''
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) would choose the venue of the finals in December 2002, Aksu said and stated, ''we will present the bid dossier till the end of March. We are preparing a very professional dossier. We will join UEFA and Association of International Sports Press (AIPS) meetings and carry out lobby activities. Our web-site in Turkish, Greek and English will be opened within a week.''
Aksu added that they will meet with their Greek colleagues in Greece on February 12 to continue their initiatives.
In his part, Gagatsis said that the good atmosphere between federations of the two countries would bring the 2008 European Football Championship finals to Turkey and Greece together with the assistance of the governments.
Gagatsis expressed full belief that they would be awarded to host the finals and achieve a good job.
A total of 55 percent of the Greek people wanted that organization, Gagatsis said and added that this rate would increase to 75 percent if they carry out better initaitives and be supported by the press.