The women’s European Championship in Switzerland is about to start. After two years of planning, the anticipation of the Basel project manager Sabine Horvath is Groß. She sees the tournament a great opportunity for women’s sports as a whole.
When the European Championship opening game between Switzerland and Norway (9 p.m., live in the first and at Sportschau.de) is kicked off on Wednesday evening, then Sabine Horvath will feel the feeling that all the work was worth it. “The mood is great. Two years are a long preparation time and then you are also glad that it finally starts”says the project manager for the Spielort Basel in an interview with the sports show. “We are now at the point. The joy is great. Especially because the weather fits now.”
In fact, the weather fits, it is almost too good. For Wednesday, in Thun and in Basel, where Switzerland meets Norway at 9 p.m. and the DFB team plays its second group game against Denmark, temperatures beyond the 30-degree brand. “If it was raining, we had measures: umbrellas and opportunities to assume. Now we have great weather, but the heat “says Horvath.
EM team is set to heat
But the organization teams in the fanzones are also prepared for this: “We have parasols, cooling stations, we have all the fountains labeled with drinking water. We will have sunscreen donors and distribute subjects. We do a lot so that the heat is bearable for everyone that comes into the fanzone.” Horvath still goes from the fact that a little fewer fans will come in the heat that will be too high. But that is completely fine, after all, health comes first.
And yet as many people as possible should be achieved with the European Championship. Three years after the teams at the tournament in England delighted the audience in fully occupied stadiums with great football, the title fights in Switzerland are to be tied.
Sabine Horvath is happy after two years of preparation for the European Championship.
“It is the largest women’s sports event in Europe, a lighthouse project. What this project can do: do something for girls’ and women’s sports. That is also my personal concern”says Horvath, who raves about the organization team. “Everyone is motivated, everyone pulls along. Therefore, you are also very broad. This tournament should help to ensure that more girls and women find their way to football or in general to sport.”
Switzerland with ambitious women’s football program
Horvath, which was already involved in the organization of the 2008 men in Switzerland and Austria, hopes for even more visibility for sport: “The tournament is a huge showcase for women’s football and for women’s sports as a whole.”
Every contribution on radio and television helps, every article that is with humans “Something sticks”. With a legacy program, the number of licensed players in Switzerland is to be doubled from 40,000 to 80,000. The European Championship is an important factor in the context of this program.
In general, interest in and acceptance for women’s football has increased significantly in recent years. However, this development has not yet been completed. “It is a long way, so the motivation is there and the tournament is so important to move something there. So that the curve goes up further”according to Horvath. How steep the curve goes up is shown in the coming weeks until July 27th. Then the final of the European Championship takes place in the “Joggeli”, as the St. Jakob Park in Basel is lovingly called.