UEFA has been meeting a number of leading federations in Brussels this week and Platini's (pictured top) plan was on the agenda.

The proposal, which will be discussed by the UEFA Executive Committee on December 6 and possibly ratified in January 2013, could see 12 countries acting as hosts based on their UEFA rankings.

"We were surprised when we first heard the idea," German Football Association (DFB) general secretary Helmut Sandrock, who attended the Brussels talks, told a German television station.

"I think a Euro across Europe offers a shorter road [of preparations].

"Look at [2014 World Cup hosts] Brazil and the distance they need to cover.

"We know that there have been two strategy discussions with national federations already and there is a lot of support."

With Turkey's 2020 bid now likely to be replaced by Istanbul's campaign to stage the Olympics and Paralympics in the same summer, attention has switched to other options – with Platini's multi-national idea top of the list.


"We discussed this idea at the DFB as we had supported the Turkey 2020 bid – but we know there is wide support from our partners in Europe [for Platini's plan]," said Sandrock.

Platini first floated the one-off proposal in June as UEFA sought to tackle the problem of how, after France in 2016, to find somewhere with the facilities to stage an event that is being expanded to 24 finalists.

The English have already told UEFA they are keen to stage the final at Wembley Stadium.

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