Christian Mutschler (left) and Christian Schmolzer
are the tournament directors for Swizterland and Austria respectively
(¿Euro 2008, S.A.)
With UEFA EURO 2008T qualifying reaching its business end
this week - there are just 12 months left to go for the tournament organisers
in Switzerland and Austria. uefa.com spoke to the two tournament directors
- Austria's Christian Schmolzer and Switzerland's Christian Mutschler
- to see how plans are progressing.
uefa.com: How does it feel to be tournament director for UEFA EURO 2008T?
Christian Schmolzer: It's obviously something special to be a part of
the organisation of the world's third largest sporting event. As a former
footballer myself, I feel a special passion for the tournament and I'm
delighted to be giving back to the sport a little bit of what I got out
of it as a player, because football has always been good to me. I was
fortunate enough to be able to turn my passion into my profession.
Christian Mutschler: For Switzerland, a sporting event of the dimensions
of UEFA EURO 2008T will in all likelihood be a one-off, just as it is
for me - a unique opportunity to be actively involved in such a once-in-a-lifetime
project. The challenges are complex and multi-faceted and there is, of
course, a high degree of responsibility resting on my shoulders, not only
as far as the match organisation is concerned but also with the co-ordination
between political leaders and the tournament administration.
uefa.com: What is your greatest challenge?
Schmolzer: That's quite clearly the complexity of the organisation and
the communication that goes along with that to all those involved. There
is a wide range of institutions involved - above all UEFA, the Austrian
and the Swiss federations. You've got to keep all of their interests in
mind and boil everything down to the lowest common denominator. Along
with that there are the eight venues, which will be playing an instrumental
role in the success of the tournament.
Mutschler: It's important to reconcile the various interests of all the
various parties involved without losing sight of the bigger aim. It's
first and foremost about sport and football, and it's essential that particular
interests or individual political concerns do not run counter to the broader
objectives. That can be exhausting at times. UEFA EURO 2008T is, along
with the UEFA Champions League, a sporting product as big as any in the
world.
uefa.com: How is the working relationship between the host nations?
Schmolzer: I'm happy to report that we're working together harmoniously.
We all want to complete the preparations as a single unit and we're looking
at a single organisation for the matches in both countries, regardless
of whether they're being staged in Vienna or Geneva. Beyond that, there
are also cross-national working meetings where we co-ordinate everything
together with the managing directors of both organising committees. And
we all want both Austria and Switzerland to profit from UEFA EURO 2008T
- there are not going to be any losers.
Mutschler: Inside the organisation we do not distinguish between Switzerland
and Austria. We view the two countries and eight cities in which matches
will be played as a single unit. Visitors should get the same top service
everywhere they go, yet at the same time there should of course be plenty
of scope for fans to experience the authenticity and local customs of
the various venues.
uefa.com: What is the level of enthusiasm in your nations for UEFA EURO
2008T?
Schmolzer: At first glance, there might seem to be relatively little euphoria
at the moment. But in my view the criticism that comes from some quarters
is unwarranted and without foundation. If you look alone at the number
of tickets ordered through the internet you can see you how great the
demand is. In the media there are also reports every day about UEFA EURO
2008T. And every marketing expert will tell you that it doesn't make any
sense at all to start banging the drum 15 months before the event starts.
That would most certainly bore the public and oversaturate the country
long before the tournament even gets under way. On the contrary, I would
even say that seldom have the preparations for such a big event been going
as well as they are now. Not even in Germany, 12 months before the start
of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, was there as much public attention on the
tournament as there is now for us. Yet in Germany, as soon as the tournament
began, everything done ended up being glorified, even retrospectively.
Mutschler: It would be a mistake for anyone to expect to see unbridled
euphoria at this point for a tournament that takes place next year. It
would be extremely difficult to keep up a high degree of enthusiasm for
more than a year. A top athlete who is in peak condition three months
before an important competition isn't going to have any chance of victory
when the big event comes. But the enormous demand for tickets in the first
phase of the ticket sales showed us quite clearly that there is a lot
of interest out there. I believe that interest will turn into excitement
at the right time.
