Platini impressed by EURO stadiums
09/10/2007 |
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President Michel Platini has viewed the UEFA EURO 2008™ stadiums in Austria and Switzerland and is impressed by what he has seen, as the countdown continues to next summer's eagerly awaited tournament.
President's insight
Mr Platini – who was co-president of the FIFA World Cup organising committee for the finals in France in 1998 – visited the eight stadiums that will host the action next summer to gain an insight into the work being undertaken. Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Vienna in Austria, and the Swiss cities of Basel, Berne, Geneva and Zurich will stage UEFA EURO 2008™ games between 7 and 29 June, with the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna holding the final.
On schedule
Preparations for the event are well into their final stages. "We are absolutely on schedule," said Mr Platini in Zurich at the end of his tour. "The work that has been undertaken by the [organising company] Euro 2008 SA, under the leadership of [chief operating officer] Martin Kallen, has been exemplary.
Good decisions
"The major decisions for the EURO were taken before I became [UEFA] President, and they were good decisions," he added. "I do not have a favourite EURO stadium – all eight are fine venues and each stadium has its own particular history. The stadium in Vienna is older than the others, but it has a lot of atmosphere and is a worthy venue for the final. All the other stadiums are more or less new. It would have made no sense for Switzerland and Austria to build bigger stadiums."
Meeting and greeting
Mr Platini was accompanied during the various stages of his visit by senior officials from the Swiss and Austrian football associations, together with Martin Kallen and a Euro 2008 SA delegation. He took the opportunity to meet local dignitaries and football officials at each of the locations, and was happy to greet personalities such as Italian coaching legend Giovanni Trapattoni, coach of FC Salzburg, former Germany midfielder Hansi Müller, international ambassador for Innsbruck, former Austria striker Toni Polster – who, like Mr Platini, is his national team's record goalscorer – and Rainer Calmund, international ambassador for Klagenfurt.
Full of emotions
Ending his tour, Mr Platini said he hoped for a EURO full of emotions in colourful stadiums. Matches at UEFA EURO 2008™ will be played at the Stadion Tivoli Neu in Innsbruck, the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, the Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim in Salzburg, the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, St. Jakob-Park in Basel, the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf in Berne, the Stade de Genève in Geneva, and the Letzigrund Stadion in Zurich.
(Source: ©uefa.com 1998-2007. All rights reserved)
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