WALES have lost their rival bids to host the 2013 European Under-21 Championships after UEFA chose Israel for the tournament.
Israel won the vote by UEFA's executive committee in Nyon today with England, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic the other bidders.
Wales had bid to host the eight-team tournament at the grounds of Swansea and Cardiff, plus Llanelli's Parc Y Scarlets with the final at the Millennium Stadium.
If England had won the bid, it would have made life much easier for the FA in terms of preparing a team for the London 2012 Olympics, which has an Under-23 limit with three over-age players permitted.
Had England been 2013 hosts they would not have needed to play in any of the Under-21 qualifying matches and could instead have played a series of Team GB friendlies in preparation for the Olympics.
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