World Sport News

UEFA EURO 2008

Klagenfurt - Klagenfurt, the most southerly state capital of Austria with a population of 92,000, nestles in an enchantingly picturesque landscape, surrounded by green meadows, high mountain peaks and the warmest Alpine lake in Europe, the Wörthersee.

Salzburg - Salzburg is known throughout the world as a festival city and for its historic Old City, which nestles within an impressive landscape.

Innsbruck - University city. City of culture. Regional capital and tourist destination in the heart of the Alps. Former home of Emperor Maximilian I.

Zurich - Zurich – whose Letzigrund Stadion will host matches at UEFA EURO 2008™ – is Switzerland's largest city, numbering some 340,000 inhabitants, and is situated in the central north-east of the country.

Berne - Berne is the federal capital of Switzerland and is situated in the west-central part of the country on the River Aare.

Basel - Right in the heart of Europe, situated on the border triangle of Germany, France and Switzerland, the Basle region is an attractive and innovative economic, research and cultural location.

Geneva - Geneva, a city of approximately 180,000 inhabitants in south-western Switzerland is mainly perceived throughout the world as a venue for meetings and exchanges.

Preparations for the 2008 European football championships are making good progress, according to Switzerland, which is co: hosting the event with Austria.

At a news conference in Bern on Monday, the Swiss organisers presented a "positive" first report on the planning of Euro 2008, along with a first glimpse of a national marketing campaign.

"Football fever will spread throughout Switzerland," Matthias Remund, director of the Federal Sport Office, told journalists.

Between one million and 3.2 million visitors are expected during the three-week tournament.

According to the organisers, four Euro 2008 projects are currently up and running in Switzerland, focusing on security, infrastructure and transport, economic promotion and other special projects.

A unified marketing campaign, enabling Switzerland to profile itself at the international level alongside the tournament, is also well advanced, incorporating a special promotional slogan: "Switzerland. Discover the plus".

"It's about turning the stadium floodlights away from the pitch and focusing them on the rest of the country," said Jürg Schmid, head of Switzerland Tourism.

A big plus

A three:dimensional "plus" sign, built out of five red:and:white industrial containers, will tour Europe in the run:up to the competition, stopping off in the seven biggest European capitals to promote Switzerland. The Swiss will get their first chance to see it for themselves in Lucerne on December 2, 2007, during the draw for the Euro 2008 finals.

While joking that Switzerland is the only country with a plus sign in its logo, Schmid stressed that the campaign would help portray the country as the ideal place to work, study and play.

"The country should be presented in a unified campaign as a beautiful, global, perfect place," he added.

To whet the public's football appetite, a wide range of events and initiatives is being planned prior to the start of the tournament in June 2008, including touring exhibitions, road shows and schools projects.

Anyone involved in Euro 2008 in direct contact with the public, especially those in the hotel, tourism or restaurant businesses, will receive special training on how to provide the best possible welcome to the hordes of football fans expected to descend on Switzerland.

Military support

In a parallel development, parliament started discussions on Monday on plans to deploy up to 15,000 soldiers to provide security during the tournament.

The soldiers would be used mainly to support the operations of civilian authorities in Switzerland's four Euro 2008 venues: the capital Bern, Basel, Geneva and Zurich.

The army would protect buildings and secure Swiss air space but would not be used to confront violent football fans. If needed, unmanned drones and Super Puma helicopters with cameras would also be used to monitor match venues.

Organisers hold EURO workshop - Friday, 10 November 2006

The organisers of UEFA EURO 2008™ have held a two-day workshop in Vienna with those responsible for the smooth running of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

Six talking points

The Austrian government invited experts from Germany to a conference at the Haus des Wiener Sports to discuss six key points in detail: organisation, transport, match venues, security, communication and tourism. The objective was for the Swiss and Austrian UEFA EURO 2008™ co-hosts to learn from the know-how acquired by their German counterparts during a successful summer tournament.

Presentation

The vice-chairman of the 2006 FIFA World Cup organising committee, Wolfgang Niersbach, and Heinz Palme, general co-ordinator of the same committee and also chief co-ordinator of UEFA EURO 2008™, were in attendance alongside the co-ordinators responsible for the cities of Kaiserslautern and Stuttgart, who related their experiences to the 120 workshop participants.

Positive conclusion

The World Cup organisers considered the slogan Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden (A Time to Make Friends), and the general participation of supporters, to have been the highlights of their championship. Christian Schmölzer, Austria's tournament director for UEFA EURO 2008™, was extremely satisfied with the deliberations in Vienna. "It was a very successful workshop," he said, "which has made a good contribution to forging a team spirit for the work ahead."

The team behind the 2008 European football championships, which Switzerland is co:hosting with Austria, has launched a new campaign to spark the nation's interest.

More than 100 representatives from towns across Switzerland came to a Federal Sports Office workshop in canton Bern on Monday to hear about the planned projects and initiatives.

The organisers of the quadrennial competition, which will take place from June 7:29 2008 in four Swiss and four Austrian stadia, said the aim was to whip up the atmosphere and the enjoyment preceding the big event.

They want the entire country to be involved in the preparations and to get people behind the general promotion of sport.

The initiatives set out at the workshop in Magglingen were backed by the Public Hand Uefa Euro 2008 organising team, the Swiss Sports Museum and the Swiss Football Association.

A touring exhibition is called "1924 ? We'll get the title back", harking back to Swiss football's finest hour when the country were runners:up to Uruguay in the 1924 Olympic Games.

Another initiative is a road show by the Swiss Football Association, whose red and white lorry will roll through all 26 cantons early next year, stopping for a day in towns and cities and providing games and information for all the family.

In addition, the bilingual school project "Fair Play Euro Schools 2008" will give more than 400 schools in Switzerland and Austria the chance to look into the various cultures represented in Euro 2008.

The organisers also hope to motivate five: to ten:year:olds to get more exercise outside obligatory sports lessons. To this end, 500 sports courses for around 10,000 children are planned.

Over the coming weeks individual communities will decide if and in what way Euro 2008 will be celebrated.