Swiss could lose Euro 2008 over stadium problems

The official ball of the Euro 2008 championships Keystone

European football’s governing body, Uefa, has told Switzerland and Austria that they may lose the right to stage Euro 2008 if they cannot provide four stadiums each.

Legal wrangles over rebuilding the Hardturm stadium in Zurich have left Switzerland with only three suitable venues in Bern, Basel and Geneva.

Early last month Uefa said the loss of one stadium would not present a problem, but its executive committee now says Switzerland must honour its contract and provide four stadiums – the same as Austria.

“We want to see eight stadiums,” said Uefa spokesman William Gaillard.

Despite Uefa’s hardened stance, Swiss Euro 2008 tournament director Christian Mutschler told swissinfo that he remained confident the championships would be held in Switzerland and Austria.

But he conceded that meeting Uefa’s demand for a fourth stadium was “a bit worrisome”.

“We have to try and find an alternative to the Hardturm venue with 30,000 seats and ready for summer 2007. There are no such stadium projects at the moment.”

Last month, when the Swiss realised that the Hardturm stadium couldn’t be completed on time, Uefa chief executive Lars Olsson said he was confident the 16-team tournament could be run with seven stadiums.

Moving the goalposts

But the goalposts shifted after a “confidential” letter from Uefa to the Swiss and Austrian football associations was published in two Swiss newspapers on Sunday.

In the letter, Uefa president Lennart Johansson warned that “Uefa could now be confronted with appeals from the unsuccessful [Euro 2008] candidates.”

One of the reasons given for the failure of the Scotland and Ireland bid was that they could only offer seven stadiums, while the Swiss-Austrian bid included eight.

“When they [Switzerland and Austria] won the right to host Euro 2008 the condition was that they have eight stadiums,” said Gaillard.

Gaillard confirmed that several rival bids had already stated their readiness to stage the tournament and were questioning why the Swiss-Austrian bid was still going ahead.

Deadlines

Gaillard added that Switzerland and Austria would have to meet two deadlines to keep the championships.

Their football associations have until November 30 to give Uefa signed security contracts with the seven confirmed stadiums, and until the end of the year to provide a series of financial guarantees.

Uefa requires that both host countries give a signed statement that all stadiums used will be free of advertising, except for the official tournament sponsors.

Switzerland also has to pass a law prohibiting the resale of tickets, which Uefa says is important for ensuring that rival fans are kept apart.

Warning shot

“This is not a threat, but it is a warning shot from the executive committee,” said Gaillard.

“We get the impression there’s a certain nonchalance. Ultimately if we don’t see any progress [in meeting the deadlines] it could lead to Uefa reopening the bid for the championships.”

Mutschler said Uefa had already made its deadlines clear, and measures to address ticketing, stadium contracts and security costs were on track.

“We made our bid based on having eight stadiums and now it looks like we’ll only have seven, so of course Uefa has been forced to react,” he said.

“We’re looking on this letter… as an extra push to getting the job done.”

swissinfo, Elizabeth Meen

Key facts

When the Hardturm stadium project fell through, Zurich considered revamping the Letzigrund, now used primarily for track meetings and rock concerts.
Bringing it up to European Championship standards – including an increase to 30,000 seats from 25,000 – would cost SFr116 million francs ($92 million).
But the city says it cannot be done in time to meet a Uefa deadline.

In brief

In their successful bid for Euro 2008, Austria and Switzerland triumphed over bids from Greece-Turkey, Denmark-Finland-Norway-Sweden, Scotland-Ireland, Russia, Hungary and Croatia-Bosnia-Herzegovina.