Turkey is finally expected to receive the hosting rights for Euro 2032, a significant international football event, after four previous unsuccessful attempts.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has long wished to organize one of the most famous athletic events in the world.
Even though the nation is in the midst of an economic crisis and the yearly inflation rate is hovering around 60%, he is now about to receive the chance.
The hosts of the 2028 and 2032 European Championships will be revealed in an upcoming meeting of UEFA's executive committee.
In order to concentrate all of its efforts on a joint proposal with Italy to host the event four years later, Turkey dropped its candidature to host in 2028.
There is no other bid for it.
Erdogan is not pretending to be interested in the most popular sport in Turkey; he played semi-professionally in his youth and is a devoted fan of Fenerbahce, one of the largest clubs in the country.
One of the pinnacles of his rule would be getting the chance to host the largest athletic event in Europe.
Additionally, it would have strong political symbolism.
According to Daghan Irak, an English lecturer in media communication at the University of Huddersfield, "Sport has always been seen as a way for Turkey to forge its own legitimacy and compete equally with the rest of the Western world."
"Erdogan has not diverted from that historic strategy."
Erdogan was appointed prime minister at the end of 2002, the same year that Turkey and Greece's combined application to host Euro 2008 was rejected. At the time, ties between the two countries were improving.
Austria and Switzerland received the tournament's awards from UEFA.
Later, Turkey entered a competition to host Euro 2012 on its own but lost to a combined Ukraine-Poland proposal. In 2016, it was defeated by France.
They eventually lost out to Germany for Euro 2024, with concerns raised by UEFA over the country’s "lack of an action plan in the area of human rights" in the appraisal of the bid.
Turkey is now certain to have its shot after four failed tries and having allied with Italy. There are no other competitors.