It will be played from 14 June to 14 July, starting in Munich. Fewer long journeys for sustainability, fight against racism
Germany returns to organize a major football tournament 18 years after the 2006 World Cup which saw the Azzurri as protagonists and winners. The short term and foresight in infrastructure planning at the beginning of the century meant that cities did not have to be turned upside down and huge amounts of capital allocated. Stadiums, connections and accommodation facilities are still in excellent condition and will also be used for Euro 2024. “2006 cannot be repeated, but it can be proposed again in a different way” Philipp Lahm told this newspaper.
stadiums and cities
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The captain of Germany’s 2014 World Cup is the tournament director. He may not have the charisma of Franz Beckenbauer, boss in 2006, but he also knows his stuff as an entrepreneur and manager of a colossal economic-sports enterprise. “A big tournament in the heart of Europe must be like a party where people are welcome, we want to celebrate together.” The party will be held in ten cities, with nine stadiums already the scene of the event 18 years ago: the new arena entered is Düsseldorf (47 thousand seats), while Nuremberg, Hannover and Kaiserslautern have left. Opening match in Munich (67 thousand for the tournament), closing in Berlin (70 thousand). The other locations: Cologne (47 thousand), Dortmund (66 thousand), Frankfurt (48 thousand), Gelsenkirchen (50 thousand), Hamburg (50 thousand), Leipzig (42 thousand), Stuttgart (54 thousand).
tickets
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Kick-off on Friday 14 June, final exactly one month later, in the place where the Azzurri triumphed in 2006. Draw for the final phase on Saturday 2 December in Hamburg. Tickets are already on sale, prices range from 30 to a thousand euros and vary depending on the matches (opening, groups, direct elimination phase). If we take the semi-final as an example, we start from 80 and reach 600. The first sales phase (1.2 million) closed on 26 October. The requests exceed the 2.7 million available and the process will be carried out by drawing lots. But UEFA’s commitment is to allocate 80% of tickets to fans and only the rest to sponsors and institutions. Over one million tickets will go on sale after the final round draw.
transport
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“Sustainability will be a very important topic” said Lahm again. On match days, ticket holders will be able to travel for free on public transport, to make travel easier and give up the car. Spectators will benefit from a pass valid for 36 hours, usable from 6am on the day of the match until 6pm the following day, in the host cities. It is expected that in some cities around 70% of spectators will use public transport to travel to the stadium. UEFA organized the Respect Forum to define the guidelines for the tournament. Three main directives: environmental, social and organizational. Therefore, contrast to racism; gender equality in the workplace; contribution to the reduction of climate change which constitutes a problem for large events. As an effect for the fans, the group calendars are designed to reduce travel to a minimum.
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