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Italy bids for Euro 2020 matches at Rome stadium

ROME (AP) — The Italian football federation is bidding with Rome's Stadio Olimpico to host matches during the 2020 European Championship.

After initially proposing Milan's San Siro stadium as well, the reshaped bid focuses entirely on the 72,000-seat Rome venue that hosted the 1960 Olympics and 1990 World Cup final.

UEFA will choose the 13 hosts, whose national teams must all get through qualifying to play at the 24-team pan-European tournament, in September.

The Italian federation says in a statement that it is bidding for first-round matches and a knockout game in either the round of 16 or quarterfinals.

Federation vice president Demetrio Albertini says the bid has government and city backing, and Milan will be supported in its bid to host the 2016 Champions League final.