Football coach Kuhn crowned “Swiss of the Year”

Keystone

Television viewers across the country have named the coach of the national football team, Jakob "Köbi" Kuhn, Swiss personality of 2006.

Other laureates of the SwissAward ceremony are Senator Dick Marty, who investigates secret CIA prisons in Europe, and leading watch entrepreneur Nicolas Hayek.

The 63-year-old Kuhn is the fifth winner of the main prize and succeeds Peter Sauber, the founder of Switzerland’s former Formula One racing team.

Actress Stephanie Glaser and snowboard Olympic gold medallist Tanja Frieden came second and third respectively in Saturday’s award ceremony in Zurich.

Kuhn said he was very pleased with the prize. “It’s an award for the whole football team which did so well,” he told the SonntagsBlick newspaper.

Kuhn took the Swiss squad to the last 16 at last year’s football World Cup in Germany, where they lost to Ukraine after a penalty shoot-out.

Human rights

Senator Marty who came top in the category politics, has made a name for himself as chairman of the committee on legal affairs and human rights at the Council of Europe to investigate suspected secret CIA prisons in Europe.

“I think the award panel did not choose for personal reasons but to reward me for my commitment towards human rights and human dignity,” Marty said.

Marty, a former prosecutor, has been a Senator in the Swiss parliament since 1995 and was elected to the Council of Europe eight years ago.

In his report, published last year, Marty accuses 14 European countries of having colluded with a CIA on secret prisons and transfers of terrorism suspects. He also slammed the Swiss authorities of turning a blind eye to allegations of suspect aircraft transiting the country’s airspace.

Swatch founder

On Saturday entrepreneur Nicolas Hayek became the first winner of the lifetime award.

Hayek played a decisive role in reorganising the Swiss watch industry at the beginning of the 1980s. With a group of investors he took over a majority shareholding in what is now the Swatch Group in 1985.

Over the years he has won numerous academic and public awards and was made an honorary citizen of the watch-making town of Biel in 2005.

“I consider myself merely as an ambassador. The prize should go to the country and its citizens. They made our success possible,” Hayek said at the ceremony.

swissinfo with agencies

In brief

The Swiss Awards, handed out for the fifth time since 2002, go to Swiss personalities for their creative, innovative ideas or their courage.

The Swiss of the Year is chosen among 18 candidates by television viewers from across the country. There are six categories: politics, culture, business, society, sport and show business.

The SwissAward ceremony is organised by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation’s radio and television stations, as well as newspaper publishers and lotteries.

Key facts

Award winners 2006:
Swiss of the Year: Jakob “Köbi” Kuhn
Business personality: Heliane Canepa
Culture: Stephanie Glaser
Politics: Dick Marty
Society: Giorgio Noseda
Show business: Daniele Finzi Pasca
Lifetime Award: Nicolas Hayek

Jakob “Köbi” Kuhn

Kuhn, 63, became coach of the national football team in 2001. He has signed a contract until 2008 when Switzerland and Austria jointly host the next European Championships.

Kuhn took the squad to the 2004 European Championships in Portugal and to the World Cup in Germany last year.

He won six Swiss championship titles and five Swiss Cup competitions as a player for FC Zurich between 1960 to 1977.

In December 2006 he was named trainer of the year.

Kuhn was capped 64 times for the Swiss squad and took part in the 1966 World Cup in England.