EURO 2016 steering group meets in Lyon

The UEFA EURO 2016 steering committee underlined its commitment to a successful tournament at its meeting in Lyon.

"We are very proud to be in Lyon, a city I know well having played not far from here … in Nancy," joked the UEFA President, Michel Platini, aware that the words 'St-Étienne' are less popular in these parts. The remark brought a smile to the lips of all those present, including Jean-Michel Aulas, the president of Olympique Lyonnais.

Also at the meeting were Gérard Collomb, the mayor of Lyon; Patrick Kanner, the minister for cities, youth and sport; Thierry Braillard, the secretary of state for sport; Alain Juppé, the mayor of Bordeaux and chairman of the UEFA EURO 2016 host cities association; Jacques Lambert, the president of EURO 2016 SAS and Noël Le Graët, president of the French Football Federation (FFF).

At this seventh meeting of the steering committee, Mr Kanner unveiled the interdepartmental action plan for football (PIAF) designed for UEFA EURO 2016.

The government, he says, has established four priorities:
• ensure a very high standard of organisation;
• make the tournament an event for the people – for everyone, everywhere;
• use UEFA EURO 2016 to contribute to growth in France and the attractiveness of France as a country;
• use the tournament to promote the values of sport.

"In 1998, nothing was prepared. This time, we can sense a real will from the government to achieve something big," said Mr Platini excitedly.

Another highlight to emerge from the meeting was the association between UEFA EURO 2016 and Lyon's cultural offering. "The city of Lyon will be putting together an exceptional sporting and cultural programme," said Mr Collomb.

This link has been further strengthened by the fact that Thierry Frémaux, director of the Institut Lumière, has been named the city's second UEFA EURO 2016 ambassador after the captain of the OL women's team, Wendie Renard. The idea is to combine a match ticket with admission to an exhibition in the region "to help all fans experience the exceptional [cultural] richness our country has to offer," said the mayor of Lyon.

On the subject of ticketing, Mr Lambert mentioned the rollout of the ticketing pricing system, which will be unveiled in full on 12 May. "The first tickets will go on sale on 10 June, a year to the day before UEFA EURO 2016 kicks off. We wanted to include a fourth category of tickets to align ourselves with the reality of society. We are not worried about sales for the big matches, because people will be ready to pay large sums of money to be sure of being there.

"But the evidence suggests this is not true of everyone. For 43 of the 51 matches, tickets will be on sale at extremely reasonable prices," explained Mr Lambert. "Not forgetting that UEFA will enable 20,000 young people under the age of 16 living in deprived areas to be part of this event free of charge," added Mr Kanner. UEFA has chosen to call this initiative 20,000 Sourires pour l'EURO (20,000 Smiles for the EURO).