Aulas: Lyon plans vital for 2016

Published: 12 Feb 2009 - 18:00:00

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Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas says France can forget about staging Euro 2016 if his club do not get the green light for a new stadium.Les Gones announced last year plans to build a 60,000-seater arena in the Decines-Charpieu region of the city in time for the start of the 2010-11 season.In October, that date was put back until May 2013 but the club have still not received permission to begin constructing the stadium and the number of opponents to the plans has grown.If the proposals are forced to be binned, Aulas believes France can wave goodbye to any hopes of hosting the European Championships in seven years' time."Let's not forget that France dramatically lack the kind of modern stadia we see in neighbouring countries," he told L'Equipe."We must really understand that the Stade Gerland has become completely outdated. And France will not be able to have Euro 2016 if the project at Lyon is cut."France are yet to officially submit a bid to host the tournament, and key stadia need to be either redeveloped or constructed if the country is to do so.Aulas maintains it would not be possible to expand Stade Gerland and it is "too late to think of another solution".