EURO 2008 INFO

"We are everywhere in the green, there is no area where we fear not to be on time," says the president of the Austrian Football Association, Friedrich Stickler, summing up the general feeling. The eight stadiums hosting the competition are ready for several months, including those of Klagenfurt (Austria) and Zurich (Switzerland), which may be under construction or planning had experienced delays. Single stage still work, the old Ernst-Happel Vienna, which will host the finals in particular, has yet to be equipped with a press centre after being modernized and seeing its capacity increased to 51,000 seats. His inauguration is expected on May 10.

Regarding issues of accommodation and transport, both countries are accustomed to mass tourism can rely on the existing infrastructure. Faced with the expected influx of visitors, railways ÖBB Austrian and Swiss SBB has provided 2,000 and 2,500 respectively special trains for fans, who can travel free if they have a ticket stadium. Moreover, the Euro will not take place until the stage: the eight host cities (Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Vienna in Austria, Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland), also provide for public showings of the matches on screens giants in huge pedestrian spaces reserved for that purpose.

Corollary to this influx of supporters waited, the two countries have put special emphasis on safety. For the 27,000 Austrian police, who will be denied leave during the tournament, and the 31,000 members of the security forces Swiss added reinforcements uniformed participating countries. The policies of the two countries, which will also be deployed large video devices, have already multiplied exercises to cope with the most diverse scenarios.