in Basel during the quarterfinal match against Russia on June 21,
have been among the most passionate supporters at
Euro 2008, along with the Croats and the Turks. Although there
has been some crowd trouble, most notably during the
Poland vs Germany match that resulted in 147 arrests,
the tournament has been fairly peaceful compared to
previous occasions.
Photo: REUTERS
It might seem premature to draw the line under the European football championship tournament before the last game is even played, but with so little of it left, the officials at the Union of European Football Association (Uefa), Europes football governing body and organiser of the event, can safely claim it to be a resounding success. In fact, they already started doing so long before the group stage matches were played. One could be excused for harbouring the suspicion that Uefa would have done so anyway, since it seems that every tournament of this kind invariably ends with proclamations that it was the best one to date.
Although, this time around, it is also true from a fans point of view. Unlike four years ago in Portugal, when most countries seemed intent on preventing the other team from scoring, ending in the team most successful at stifling their opponents winning the trophy, this years tournament has offered even neutrals a true feast of breathtaking attacking football, goals and drama.
But it is too bad that so many of those fans were unable to watch the action where one can enjoy it to the fullest inside the eight stadiums. Austria and Switzerland have never been the most football-crazy countries to start with, something that the tournament has not changed apparently, so most of the stadiums they offered barely covered the minimum Uefa capacity requirements.
The organisers, however, made an effort to solve the problem, at least to some extent, by creating the official fan zones, picking up on the concept's success in 2006 in Germany, during the last World Cup. These were meant to be areas where supporters of any team could congregate to watch matches broadcast live on large screens, banter and generally have fun. And purchase some official merchandise along the way, of course.
Except, as it has been increasingly the case with recent tournaments, the focus on making money has once again gone too far, to the extent that it detracts from the experience of watching a football game with like-minded individuals. Vastly-overpriced merchandise sold in the Official Uefa Euro 2008 (trade mark) Fan Zones left most supporters unimpressed after all, who would jump with excitement at the thought of paying 4.50 euro for a bottle of water? Is Uefa not making enough money from branding the goal and man of the match awards (both Castrol), the fantasy football (McDonalds) and score predictor (JVC) games on its website? Even the venue guide (Hyundai) and video quiz (Continental) have their sponsors.
The outcome of over-commercialisation is that while supporters still flocked to the fan zones, with 1.7 million people estimated to have watched games there in the first week of the tournament alone, they bought little, if any, merchandise.
Uefa has declined to comment on criticism from unhappy concession holders who said they were not selling enough. The fan zones are the responsibility of the host cities. I can, however, confirm that in Vienna 20 concession holders had closed and will receive money back, Uefa press officer Wolfgang Eichler said on June 14, as quoted by DPA.
The big losers, however, are the Austrian and Swiss publicans that expected increased revenues from the hundreds of thousands of visiting fans. With the fan zones soaking up all custom and locals never catching the football bug, pubs have been emptier than usual at this time of year as recorded on internet forums, blogs and football podcasts that have been tracking the tournament from a fans perspective, but not a point Uefa is too keen to emphasise.
At least football this summer has been great.
