Swiss keeps watch over Euro 2004

Thierry Favre hopes to avoid any major hiccups during Euro 2004 swissinfo.ch

Switzerland may be out of Euro 2004 but Geneva’s Thierry Favre still has his hands full ensuring the tournament runs as smoothly and safely as possible.

Now in charge of security, his first task two years ago was to make sure the ten stadiums were ready on time.

Favre is one of 50 delegates from European football’s governing body, Uefa, sent to Portugal to prepare for the football championships.

He has worked behind the scenes for the past two years, supervising construction of the stadiums and, more recently, coordinating security from his base in the capital, Lisbon.

His official job description is “manager of infrastructures, stadium and security” for Uefa, whose headquarters are in Nyon.

swissinfo: Did you think that all the stadiums would be finished in time?

Thierry Favre: There were ten Portuguese stadiums to build and, except for the one in Bessa, Oporto, they all started from scratch.

The planning, location and financing of these projects certainly provoked some controversy. The same thing happened in Switzerland with the Zurich stadium, for example. But Uefa was confident that we would finish on time.

swissinfo: But some stadiums, Coimbra for example, aren’t completely finished.

T.F.: The minor problems which you refer to must be looked at in the context of two essential points.

Firstly, the Portuguese did not have modern stadiums and they built ten of them
in record time.

Secondly, the stadiums of today are not just for football matches. And it is true that various plans for shops, business centres, sports centres and hospital clinics will not be completed in the near future.

But they were never a crucial factor for Uefa, which above all wanted functioning stadiums for Euro 2004. And we have them.

swissinfo: On June 12, just as the Euro began, you switched jobs. But you continue to supervise the smooth-running of the event but this time from a security standpoint.

T.F.: Euro 2004 is a major football tournament and we are principally concerned about sport. But it is clear that for any event taking place on a national or international scale, certain measures have to be put in place.

Each match poses its own crowd-control problems, so we have people to manage the flow, searching and supervision of fans. This is carried out by Portuguese security teams.

They work with security specialists from the countries involved in the various matches. With my superior, I help to coordinate the policing of each game.

swissinfo: How successful has collaboration been with the countries involved?

T.F.: This has been one of the best parts of the tournament. Clearly, the approaches differ, but this was also the case in Belgium and in the Netherlands in 2000.

I’ve had the chance to live in Brazil and speak Portuguese, so I’ve been something of a middleman during some of the discussions.

Generally, it takes time to adapt to a different way of thinking and to Portuguese law. But once this had been done, things fell into place very quickly.

swissinfo: English hooligans have been hitting the headlines once again, with arrests in the Algarve?

T.F.: English hooligans have been a major problem for 20 years, and it is really a pity that we spend more time talking about them than the performances of the England team.

Being here in Lisbon, it’s difficult for me to comment on what happened in the Algarve based only on what I could see on television. All I can say is that, despite these incidents, there has been no real cause for alarm.

swissinfo: As a football enthusiast, who do you see winning the title this year?

T.F.: It’s really hard to say because the 16 best teams in Europe are in Portugal. The games are of a high quality, and the players seem to be in good form and giving their all.

On a purely personal basis, I was very impressed by the performances of Italy and Sweden. But France remain the big favourites to retain their title.

swissinfo, Mathias Froidevaux and Doris Lucini in Lisbon

Key facts

Uefa has about 50 people based in Porto and Lisbon.
Thierry Favre is in charge of infrastructure, stadiums and security.
He speaks six languages (French, German, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese).

In brief

Thierry Favre works in the competitions department at Uefa in Nyon.

Over the past two years, he has supervised ongoing projects in preparation for Euro 2004, along with Ernie Walker, president of stadiums and security.

Since the start of Euro 2004 on June 12, he has coordinated security from his base in Lisbon.