EURO 2024 teams convene for finals briefing
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
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Coaches and staff representing all 24 competing teams attend finalists' workshop in Düsseldorf to learn about key operational details ahead of this summer's final tournament.
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With just over two months to go until the opening match of UEFA EURO 2024 kicks off in Munich, delegations - including head coaches - from each of the 24 competing associations descended on Düsseldorf for the official finalists' workshop.
The workshop acts as a 360-degree initiation for teams competing at EURO 2024, introducing them to a wide variety of tournament operational matters to help them in their preparations.
Across a day and a half of presentations, seminars and discussions, national associations learnt about activities and issues relating to match organisation, team hotels and training facilities, refereeing, safety and security, disciplinary, medical and anti-doping matters, as well as UEFA's sustainability initiatives and marketing, media and broadcast operations during the tournament.
Below, we highlight some of the key details we shared with teams over the past two days, and how they will contribute to making EURO 2024 exciting, safe and enjoyable for everybody.
Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA deputy general secretary
"Congratulations to all the teams that have secured qualification, and particularly to Georgia who joins the EURO for the very first time.
"I also congratulate the DFB and ten host cities for preparing the stage for what we expect to be one of the most memorable editons of this tournament. Over 2.7 million fans will gather in the ten great stadiums with many more in the fan zones and the streets to celebrate the action.
"We look forward to a festival of friendship and inclusion, with everybody free to participate, a festival where only the games take centre stage and exclusively for positive reasons.
"Good luck to all of you, and let's enjoy every moment!"
Heike Ullrich, German Football Association (DFB) general secretary:
"On behalf of the DFB, let me say that we are really incredibly proud to welcome you with a lot of anticipation for what is coming.
"Looking back on UEFA EURO ‘88, the FIFA World Cup in 2006, and also the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2011, they showed that there is more to Germany than just good organisation and the ability to host major tournaments.
"I can assure you that everything and everybody will be ready to receive not just the participating teams, but also the delegates and the fans. We look forward to welcoming visitors to the tournament and hope you will all enjoy everything this country has to offer."
On the pitch: refereeing and football
UEFA's managing director of refereeing, Roberto Rosetti and referee committee member Björn Kuipers met with coaches and technical staff to discuss refereeing at the tournament, explaining that particular focus will be paid to player behaviour, respect and fair play.
Rosetti also talked through VAR, with "minimum interference for maximum benefit" his key message to coaches.
During the session, UEFA also took the opportunity to discuss squad sizes for the forthcoming tournament with the assembled coaches. UEFA has taken note of the various opinions and points of view shared, with a final decision to be made in the coming weeks.
Coaches' discussions
UEFA EURO 2024 in numbers
16,000 volunteers, from 146,000 applications
2.7 million fans expected to attend 51 tournament matches
€32 million investment in sustainability projects
€331 million prize money to be shared between participating nations
€935 million to be invested in European football development projects
5 billion projected cumulative live tournament TV audience
Sustainability: leading by example
Our aim is to make EURO 2024 the reference point for event sustainability in sports and to become a driving force for sustainable development within German and European societies.
Our EURO 2024 environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy is backed by an investment of €32 million. We will use the tournament's global attraction to raise awareness of important issues, with 99 solid actions set to make it the most sustainable EURO of all time.
We see participating teams as part of the solution, and during the event in Düsseldorf, we presented more information on the sustainable match schedule, which sees venues and matches organised in regionalised clusters. This reduces the number of flights taken by teams by 75 per cent compared to EURO 2016, as well as ensuring easier, sustainable transport between matches for supporters.
This summer, we will also lead the way in protecting players, teams and staff from online abuse. Just like at EURO 2020 and Women's EURO 2022, UEFA will work with social media networks and participating teams to monitor, report and remove instances of online abuse and discrimination.
More on sustainability at EURO 2024
Medical and anti-doping: doctors aligned
To help us deliver a clean, safe and fair EURO 2024, all 24 team doctors of competing nations have signed up to UEFA's concussion and anti-doping charters. The charters are a pledge that medical teams will comply with UEFA guidelines and regulations.
For concussion management, that means doing everything medically justifiable to treat players with suspected concussion on the pitch and in gradual recovery, supplying information to UEFA in case of a head injury at a match or in training to allow us to collect important data about concussion in football.
The anti-doping charter is an agreement to ensure all players and staff members are educated on anti-doping procedures and prohibited substances, safeguarding the integrity of the tournament. During the tournament, all teams and players will be subject to UEFA's comprehensive, robust and scientifically advanced testing and analysis.
Ahead of the tournament, all 24 teams will also join match officials, staff and volunteers by undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training as part of UEFA's Get Trained, Save Lives campaign, which aims to raise awareness of simple yet crucial lifesaving skills among football fans and the wider public. This activity will be supplemented by a TV commercial, an interactive online educational tool and activities in all fan zones across the ten host cities.
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