Every little bit Alps

By Mark Chaplin

No sooner had the fireworks been set off at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on a balmy summer's night six months ago following the final of UEFA EURO 2004™, than the thoughts of a few people turned to the organisation of the next final round of European football's premier national-team event in 2008.

Work in progress
Following the massive sporting and commercial success of the event in Portugal, work is already deeply in progress for UEFA EURO 2008™ in Austria and Switzerland in three-and-a-half years' time. The agreements and administrative bricks are gradually being put in place in time for what the Alpine neighbours have vowed will be an equally memorable summer of football.

Full speed ahead
Two tournament directors - Christian Schmoelzer (Austria) and Christian Mutschler (Switzerland) - are in place. Both associations signed the staging agreement for the event in Vienna in November, the EURO 2008™ managerial board held its founding meeting last week, and the organisational body set up for the final round can proceed full speed ahead with the assembling of the competition structures and further recruitment of Austrian and Swiss staff. The road to 2008 promises to be a fascinating and enriching adventure for everyone involved.

Portugal lessons
The Portuguese experience is already been put to positive use, and UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson says lessons from the preparation and organisation of the 2004 event are proving invaluable. "We are starting earlier in our preparations than we have ever been before," he explained. "We have brought experience back from Portugal, and the key figures are already in place for the next final round. I think that the preparatory period for future EUROs will be longer, because this allows you to use experts in the same areas." Such experts include EURO 2008's chief operations officer Martin Kallen, who undertook the same role so successfully in Portugal.

Different tournament
For a variety of reasons, EURO 2008™ will be a different tournament to the festival of football in the Portuguese sun. "The climate will be different, and the people are different," said Mr Olsson. "And the two countries are different in some ways as well, so the fans will be able to look at two ways of living. I'm already looking forward to the tournament."

Eight stadiums
Eight cities will host EURO 2008™ games - Vienna, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt and Salzburg in Austria, and Basle, Berne and Geneva in Switzerland, with the Letzigrund stadium having been proposed as Zurich's venue to replace the city's Hardturm project, which fell through last autumn after local residents and environmental groups appealed against planning permission.

Strategic year
"This year is mainly a strategic year," said EURO 2008™ event management head Jürgen Müller. "We are putting together various concepts and plans, with the host countries and within our own body, to ensure that preparations are as smooth as possible. There will be two tournament direction offices - in Berne and Vienna - while the tournament operations centre will be based in Nyon. We expect around 200 people to be employed for the overall tournament organisation."

Easy access
These are early days - but the signs are good. "Co-operation between UEFA and the two countries is very good. They are very diligent, and want to emulate Portugal, where the framework was perfect," Müller explained. "They will have the advantage of easy access as they are in the centre of Europe - and visitors will not only enjoy the football - they will have a lot to see and do in two very beautiful countries."