Host cities endorse Euro 2008 charter

Keystone

Five hundred days before the 2008 European football championships kick off, the four Swiss host cities have signed a cooperation agreement with Uefa.

Representatives of Zurich, Basel, Bern and Geneva signed a charter with European football’s governing body on Tuesday in Zurich which sets out promotional rights and obligations in particular.

Under the charter, each of the four host cities will be responsible for the planning, organisation and implementation of free fan zones. Between one million and 3.2 million visitors are expected during the tournament, which is taking place in Switzerland and Austria from June 7-29 next year.

Euro 2008 SA, a Uefa subsidiary, will share the costs and offer the host cities advertising space in the stadiums and on television.

Each city will receive at least SFr1.2 million ($940,000) from Uefa to help set up the fan zones with giant television screens for the duration of the tournament and cover additional administrative costs.

“Following the massive success of the fan zones in Germany, we had to rethink and recalculate the dimensions of the fan zones,” said Swiss tournament director Christian Mutschler. “But the agreement we have negotiated represents a very fair compromise.”

Speaking on behalf of the other cities, Zurich’s mayor Elmar Ledergerber said: “We are pleased and proud that after lengthy and sometimes tough but always constructive negotiations we have reached an agreement that everyone is happy with.”

Tickets

Under the contract, the four host cities can also negotiate deals with up to four local sponsors, as long as they do not compete with Uefa’s official sponsors. The charter also gives each city the right to use a common Euro 2008 logo.

The cities will also receive a limited number of complementary and paid-for match tickets, and for each match 750 tickets will go on sale for local residents only.

The official online ticket office, www.euro2008.com, will open on March 1, 2007 for one month. In total 290,000 Euro 2008 tickets – 30 per cent of the total – will go on sale.

“But if the demand exceeds the number of tickets available, there will be a draw for the tickets,” said Martin Kallen, Euro 2008 SA director.

Each buyer will only be able to purchase a maximum of four tickets and will only be able to order tickets for one match per day.

swissinfo with agencies

In brief

The European football championships take place in Switzerland and Austria from June 7-29, 2008.

Fifteen matches take place in Switzerland: in Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich.

Free fan zones are planned in Zurich (around the lake and the upper-Limmat area), Basel (at the army barracks, in Kleinbasel district and between the Badischer Bahnhof and the main railway station), Bern (the upper part of the old town) and Geneva (in Plainpalais district and towards the main railway station).

The draw for the final group stage will take place on December 2, 2007.

Key facts

SFr182 million ($147 million) of Swiss public funds has been earmarked so far for Euro 2008.
The largest single amount – SFr64.4 million – will be spent on security.
SFr18 million is going to upgrade stadium infrastructure in the four host cities: Basel, Zurich, Bern and Geneva.
A further SFr24.7 million will be used for marketing.
The tournament is expected to bring in SFr500 million to Switzerland.