UEFA has confirmed the European Championships in 2020 will be held in 13 different cities across Europe rather than one or two countries.
UEFA staged a press conference on Friday which confirmed indications given by president Michel Platini that the competition would move away from its traditional format.
According to Platini and UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, there will be maximum of one venue per nation and there are technical specifications for stadia size which limit entries for each stage of the finals.
The 13 countries containing the host cities will not gain automatic qualification into the group stage, but the host nations that do qualify will be spread across the groups in the finals.
Each national association will be permitted to submit two bids one for the standard group stage package , and one to hold a semi-final/final match.
UEFA will decide which cities are to be hosts at Euro 2020 in September 2014, with September this year being the expected month for formal confirmation of bids.
The new format is not expected to be a long-term direction, however, with the traditional format, in place for Euro 2016 in France, expected to be resumed for Euro 2024.