UK Bodies Considering Bids For European, World Championships

London set IAAF attendance records when it hosted the 2017 World Athletics Championships.GETTY IMAGES

UK Athletics and UK Sport are in discussions over a "double bid to bring the European Championships and the World Championships to Britain in the next nine years," according to Riath Al-Samarrai of the London DAILY MAIL. There reportedly is interest and government backing to stage the Europeans in London in '26 and "they want the worlds to follow" in '27. The two separate plans were "expected to be included" on a list unveiled by UK Sport in London on Wednesday, in which the funding body will detail its future hosting targets, with the "most prominent" being the 2030 FIFA World Cup. It is understood that the IAAF is "keen to bring the sport back to Britain" after attendance records were "smashed" when the world championships were held in London last year. In the case of the European bid, if it is successful, it would represent the first time Britain has hosted the championships (DAILY MAIL, 10/2).