Euro: Did all the teams play on an equal footing?

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Qualified for the semi-finals of Euro football, England played (and won) its first and only away match in Rome, in the quarter-final on Saturday against Ukraine (4 -0).

The "Three Lions" will now face Denmark next Wednesday at Wembley in the semi-finals, before a possible final at the same stadium on 11 July.

For the respondents to our poll, there is no doubt: around 82% believe that England have benefited from their home games.

And this while the doubts about the sporting fairness of the Euro are more and more audible as the end of the competition approaches.

The semi-finalists, the organization's big winners?

At home or in permanent transit, with or without supporters, in mild or scorching temperatures ... The 24 teams involved in this Euro, scattered in 11 cities, were far from being in the same boat. And the semi-finalists were among the big winners on these criteria. Spain, which will play its semi-final on Tuesday, was able to benefit from a start to the tournament at home, in front of its audience, like the other three semi-finalists: Denmark in Copenhagen, Italy in Rome and the England, therefore, in London.

"Travel, recovery, climate ... All of this put together, it has necessarily benefited them", said Sunday Aline Riera, football consultant of Europe 1 for the Euro and former international of the team. from France, about the English. "They were on their base camp, in their benchmarks, which was not the case with a number of nations. So yes, I find that unequal and unfair."

By launching in 2012 the idea of ​​a pan-European tournament, Michel Platini wanted in particular "not to force countries to build stadiums, highways or airports when we are rather in a world in crisis".

What the then UEFA president had not anticipated, however, was the difference in treatment that this would entail between the teams playing at home (nine in total), at least in the first round, and those forced to chain backbreaking trips, without a fixed base camp.

"It's not great in terms of preparation"

For example, Switzerland started its tournament against Wales in Baku, before heading to Rome to challenge Italy, then returning to Azerbaijan, more than 3,000 kilometers away as the crow flies. Obviously, Vladimir Petkovic's men have left feathers there. "Tomorrow will be the fourth time that we will change the time zone. It is not great in terms of preparation," said the coach of the "Nati" after the group stage. And to engage: "We traveled a lot, we move often and each time it was necessary to adapt the biological rhythm of the players (...) Besides, you, the journalists, you did not speak much about it , I find".

"For me, England remains the big favorite in this format," said Belgium coach Roberto Martinez after the first round. "You know very well that when the matches are close in the knockout phase, it is a great advantage to play at home", had developed the Spanish technician in an interview with ESPN.

For the journalist of 

Nabil Djellit, one can indeed "express reservations" as regards "the logistics". "The English are perhaps the winners of the lottery in this story. Is it decisive? No. But it is an advantage which is clear, without that doing everything", he said added, citing the counter-examples of Germany, Hungary and Russia. These teams have "played a lot at home" without qualifying for the last four.

"And there is this story of Covid which has even more impacted the teams who travel and the supporters as well," said Nabil Djellit. The virtual impossibility for foreign supporters to come and support their teams, in London and Glasgow in particular, due to severe traffic restrictions in the United Kingdom, has indeed often been pointed out.