By fans - for fans
Monday, June 2, 2008
Article summary
The "fan embassies" project is designed to provide support to football fans during UEFA EURO 2008™.
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Eight venues
Apart from fan embassies at each of the eight venues where fans can go for assistance, there will also be mobile fan embassies which will move from stadium to stadium. The project is being run by people who are familiar with the fan scene in the participating countries, together with local fan experts. It is hoped that this cooperation will also be put to use well after UEFA EURO 2008™.
Project leaders
The project leaders are UEFA's long-standing partners FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) in cooperation with the FSI (Football Supporters International), Fairplay-vidc (Austria's Vienna Institute for international Dialogue and Cooperation) and Projektorganisation Öffentliche Hand (Swiss state project organisation).
Staff and volunteers
There are some 20-30 staff and volunteers per host city, including many from the local fan scene. They will share information with the stadium security officers, and meetings are scheduled the day before a match. Fan ambassadors and contact persons will be clearly identifiable to fans and security people in the stadiums, and a fan guide is available in the languages of all teams at the finals - 41 different fan guides are being issued for the group matches. A website has also been set up to support the project, www.fanguide2008.net.
Location of fan embassies
• Vienna: Vorplatz Museumsquartier
• Klagenfurt: Fancamp, Messegelände
• Salzburg: Ferdinand-Hanusch-Platz
• Innsbruck: Fancamp Innsbruck
• Zurich; Rathausplatz
• Basel: Marktplatz
• Berne: Waisenhausplatz
• Geneva: Place du Rhône