There are 100 days to go until Switzerland and the Czech Republic kick off UEFA EURO 2008™ in Basel and preparations for the finals are moving along swiftly.
Progress report
Martin Kallen, chief operating officer of EURO 2008 SA, and Philippe Margraff, UEFA Commercial Director, gave a progress report today at the launch of euro2008.com in Berne. Among topics covered were the recruitment of volunteers for the finals in Austria and Switzerland, ticketing and corporate hospitality. Kallen said: "We have fulfilled all our objectives to date and after three years of preparation, I am pleased to enter the final phase. Still, we have to welcome 200 colleagues and the pitches in Berne and Salzburg need to be changed from synthetic to grass surfaces. Then on 12 May, we take over the stadiums in order to install temporary buildings and other matters such as security fencing in and around them."
Volunteers
Volunteers are vital to the success of any major tournament, and already 5,000 have been recruited for UEFA EURO 2008™. More than 17,000 applications from over 150 countries were received, with the period for submitting forms at euro2008.com open until tomorrow, 29 February. Interviews are taking place in the eight host cities, with 8,000 people having already been seen. Aside from basic conditions, such as age and linguistic ability, the most important criteria when selecting volunteers for the third-largest sports event in the world included motivation, flexibility and enthusiasm. The candidates will all find out by mid-April whether they will be part of the team at UEFA EURO 2008™.
Ticketing
As for tickets, 75 per cent will go to fans and of those, 1.05 million went on sale last March at euro2008.com, and there were 8.7 million applications. A draw was held the following month, and those unlucky enough to miss out were placed on a waiting list using a random number generator, and 20,000 tickets have been reallocated using that system. Since then the qualifying nations have been determined, and each has been allocated 19 per cent of the stadium quota, with each association putting the tickets on sale via their own channels from January. Ticket offers from any sources other than those listed above are neither official nor reputable. Most try to charge exorbitant prices for tickets that do not even exist. Buyers therefore run the risk of paying large sums of money for nothing and even if they do manage to get their hands on a ticket, there is a high risk of it being blocked by the organisers. Sellers could face a contractual fine of up to €5,000 in accordance with the ticketing terms and conditions.
Hospitality
Meanwhile, 80,000 corporate hospitality packages have been on sale since April last year. The latest figures have exceeded all expectations: about 96 per cent of the packages have already been sold, bringing in around €115m, a new EURO record for UEFA. For the group matches in Geneva, Zurich, Klagenfurt and Innsbruck, there are very few corporate hospitality tickets remaining. There is somewhat more availability in Vienna, though, not least because of the greater stadium capacity. There are still a few packages available for both quarter-finals, the semi-final and final at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion. There is also a limited number of packages available for the semi-final in Basel. For more details click here.
UEFA EURO 2008™: forthcoming events
- Jan-Jun EURO Experience Tour with 13 stops in Austria and Switzerland
- 29 Feb Volunteers: applications close
- 12-14 Mar Final tournament participants' workshop in Vienna
- 14-17 Apr Referee' workshop in Regensdorf, Zurich
- 3 & 17 May Volunteers: kick-off events in Klagenfurt/Geneva; Innsbruck/Berne, training at stadiums continue until June
- 12 May Stadium handovers
- 1 Jun Media centres open in Vienna and Basel
- 7 Jun Tournament opens in Basel
- 29 Jun Final at 20.45 CET in Vienna
