With so many different tournaments going on right now, this announcement from Europe drifted under the radar.
Confederations Cup, U-20 World Cup, Gold Cup and plenty of other soccer tournaments have taken any limelight away from EURO 2016, which seems like an age away.
But the French Football Federation (FFF) unveiled their logo for the 2016 European Championships in Paris this afternoon.
President of UEFA, former French superstar midfielder Michel Platini, was delighted with the launch of the branding. While Noël Le Graët, FFF president, hailed the unveiling of the tournaments brand.
“It’s a great moment for France. We want to make people feel, in our towns and our villages, that this sport brings people together, to show that an event like this is for everyone.”
Well, what do you make of the logo? Umm, yeah, it is smart. But it does look very similar to the South Korean flag.
Anyway, haven’t we had just about every design possible for a World Cup, European Championship or Copa America? There is only so much you can do with a trophy and a soccer ball.
I’m sure budding designers will tell me otherwise but I’ve yet to see any design that has really pushed the boundaries in the world of soccer tournament logo’s.
Some of the past European Championship logo’s to stick out in my mind are the EURO 1996 in England, EURO 2000 in Holland and Belgium and the flowers design in Ukraine and Poland was pretty snazzy last time out at EURO 2012.
UEFA said the EURO 2016 design was from the theme of ‘Celebrating the art of football’, and it was unveiled in the suave surroundings of Paris’s Pavillon Cambon Capucines.
So maybe the logo has got you in the mood for EURO 2016? If so, here is some slender info (all that is available) on the tournament that will begin in three years time. Make sure you visit the tournaments page on the UEFA site too. Start saving up for those tickets...
Host Cities
Nice, Lille, Lens, Stade de France (Paris), Parc des Princes (Paris), Bordeaux, Lyon, St. Etienne, Toulouse, Marseille
Draw dates
Qualifying – Nice; 23 February 2014, Final tournament – Paris; December 2015