Uefa has confirmed its controversial plan to hold the 2020 European Championship in an array of cities across the continent, leaving the door open for a potential final at Wembley and group-stage matches in Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

Michel Platini, the Uefa president, first revealed his plans for a pan-European tournament in June and Uefa's executive committee voted in favour at a meeting in Lausanne on Thursday.

The Football Association has already put Wembley forward as a possible destination for the final and semi-finals, and Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have the opportunity to host matches after previously expressing an interest in a joint bid for the 24-team event.

Any decision on venues will not be made until the spring of 2014 and the bidding process will begin in March. It is understood that although the semi-finals and final will be played in the same city, they may be at three different grounds.

David Bernstein, the FA chairman, recently said: "Clearly Wembley is incredibly highly thought of by Uefa and it is something we will push for. Uefa want to hold the semi-finals and the final on the same ground, or in the same city and I think we would be on their shortlist – but there would be some strong competition."

Platini has argued that at a time of economic uncertainty, Uefa does not want to burden a country without sufficient infrastructure. However, the decision has been met with fierce criticism in certain quarters.

Mark Perryman, a spokesman for England fans' groups, said: "The issue is why on earth didn't England, or any other major country, bid to host 2020? Why didn't England try and step into the breach? Why didn't they launch pressure for the bid to be reopened. It seems extraordinary that a country like Germany, who haven't hosted a European Championship since 1988, or Italy, who haven't hosted it since 1980, didn't consider bidding for it. In terms of Germany and England, not a single new road or ground would need to be built. It seems incredible.

"If Platini is putting his foot down then Bernstein should be going public and saying 'why weren't we allowed to?'"

He did argue, though, that travelling to different cities across Europe could be simpler than the arduous lengths supporters had to endure in Ukraine last summer. "For England's group in the Ukraine, the travelling was more considerable than it would be, say, to play in Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels. That would actually be less travelling. It would be considerably cheaper and easier," Perryman said.

Kevin Miles, the Football Supporters' Federation director of international affairs, reiterated the concerns but revealed that Uefa has been in contact with fan groups across Europe.

He said: "We had a meeting with Uefa a couple of weeks ago to discuss the format in terms of where the group-stage games will be played, making sure that those matches are held close to each other. England's group games will be closer together than they were at the last Euros when they were split between Donetsk and Kiev. Uefa are aware of the issues and they did stress to us that it's a one-off."

Euro 2020 will be the first major football tournament to span more than two countries. Belgium and the Netherlands were co-hosts of the European Championship in 2000, Switzerland and Austria did Euro 2008 and Poland and Ukraine combined last summer. Japan and South Korea came together for the 2002 World Cup.

Georgia and Azerbaijan had made formal bids for 2020, in addition to interest from the Celtic nations. Wembley could face competition from Scotland for the final, although Glasgow may bid only to host group-stage matches.

The Scottish Football Association chief executive, Stewart Regan, said: "As something different and innovative, it does carry a lot of merit. We would be interested in the final but we first have to find out Uefa's minimum criteria for capacity – if they are looking for stadiums with greater capacity then of course we would be interested in hosting group matches."

Jonathan Ford, the chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, said: "This rules us very much in. We now have to see how this can work on a logistical basis. If we are part of a hub including Glasgow, Dublin and an English city this could be very exciting. What we don't want is fans having to travel from Rome, to Istanbul and then to Lisbon. Uefa will have to be very clever in their selection. We've got to think of fans first and foremost."

Uefa also ruled that ownership of players by a third party in Europe "should be prohibited as a matter of principle". It said in a statement: "Fifa will be requested to issue relevant worldwide regulations prohibiting third-party ownership of players. Uefa, through its Professional Football Strategy Council, would also be ready to implement a regulatory framework to prohibit third-party ownership arrangements in Uefa competitions, should Fifa not take the appropriate steps."