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EURO 2008 - STADIUMS PRESENTATION









Switzerland

Zürich - Letzigrund (Capacity of 23.605 seats). Of the 23,605 places, 11,605 have seats (9,167 covered) and 12,000 are covered standing area. The main pitch is 105 by 68 metres with athletics facilities. There are also three other playing fields: 2 lawns, 1 artificial turf and a small packed sand field. A bar and a restaurant are within the stadium.

The new stadium was opened on August 30th 2007. The first sport event there was the annual Weltklasse Zürich on September 7th with 26500 spectators, the first football game was FC Zürich vs. Grasshopper Club Zürich on September 23rd. It will be host to three games during the 2008 European championships, with a capacity of up to 30,000.

Berna - Stade de Suisse Wankdorf (Capacity of 32.000 seats). The Stade de Suisse was built on the grounds of the former Wankdorf Stadium, which had been demolished in 2001. The new stadium has a capacity of 32,000 spectators, all covered seats. Integrated into the roof are solar panels with a yearly production of 700,000 kWh. The stadium was officially opened on July 30, 2005, although the first match in the new stadium had already taken place on July 16 2005. Young Boys played against Olympique Marseille and lost 2-3 with 14,000 spectators watching. The match was considered an "infrastructure test", which is why no more than 14,000 tickets were sold.

The stadium was used by FC Thun for three Champions League home matches in 2005, and for one home match in the UEFA Cup Round of 32 this year.

Geneva - Stade de Geneve (Capacity of 30.084 seats). Stade de Genève is a stadium in the greater Geneva, Switzerland area (located in Lancy, south of the city). It has a capacity of 30,084. The stadium was completed in 2003 by Zschokke Construction S.A. after nearly three years of construction. Normally the home venue of Geneva's Servette FC, a Swiss football team, the stadium hosted international friendlies between Argentina and England on November 12 2005, which England won 3-2 and between New Zealand and Brazil on June 4, 2006, which Brazil won 4-0. The venue will also be used to host three group-stage matches for Group A during the next UEFA European Football Championship in 2008.

Basel - St. Jakob-Park (Capacity of 42.500 seats). It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 38,500 seats. The capacity has now been increased to 42,500 for the Euro 2008.

The stadium has been awarded 4 stars by UEFA, which is the highest amount of stars that can be awarded to a stadium of that size.

For Euro 2008, the St. Jakob Park will host 6 games - 3 group games (including the opening match), two quarter-finals and one semi-final.

AUSTRIA

Viena - Ernst Happel (Capacity of 53.008 seats). It was built between 1929 and 1931 for the second Workers' Olympiad to the design of German architect Otto Ernst Schweizer. The stadium was renamed in honour of Ernst Happel following his death in 1992. It will host the Euro 2008 final on 29 June.

The Ernst Happel Stadium is the largest football stadium in Austria. It is the home of the Austrian national football team. Club football matches are generally limited to the domestic cup and international competitions featuring one of Vienna's top clubs, FK Austria Wien and SK Rapid Wien, as their regular stadiums are too small to host UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches. Local derbies between FK Austria and SK Rapid have also been played in the stadium.

Although its current capacity is only 49,825, the stadium is rated one of UEFA's Five Star Stadiums (normally 50,000+ capacity), permitting it to host the UEFA Champions League final. The seating capacity is being expanded to 53,008 for the 2008 European Football Championship, with the final to be held in the stadium. The stadium will also host 3 group games, 2 quarter final matches and a semifinal.

Klagenfurt - Hypo-Arena, fost Wortherseestadion (Capacity of 32.000 seats). It is the home ground of SK Austria Kärnten.

The old stadium, known as the Wörtherseestadion, was built in 1960 and had a capacity of 10,900. It was demolished in 2005 and replaced by the new Hypo Arena, for the 2008 European Football Championship, which can hold 32,000 spectators. After the event, the stadium will be reduced to a capacity of 12,500. The official opening was on Sep. 07, 2007 and hosted a friendly between Austria and Japan in front of 26,500 spectators.

Salzburg - Wals-Siezenheim (Capacity of 30.000 seats). It was officially opened in March 2003 and is the home ground of Red Bull Salzburg.

Its current seating capacity is 30,000. The stadiums previous capacity was 18,200, but was just recently expanded to 30,000 so it will be able to accommodate the 2008 European Football Championship.

Innsbruck - Tivoli Neu (Capacity of 30.000 seats). It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of FC Wacker Tirol. The stadium holds 17,400 and was built in 2000. It will be expanded to 30,000 people for the 2008 European Football Championship.