UEFA EURO 2008TM was a unique event for Vienna

Mayor of Vienna: It was a festival of football

Cheering spanish team surrounded by photographersFans from all over Europe came to Vienna and celebrated a festival of football together. "It was what we had expected and hoped for", said Michael Häupl, Mayor of Vienna, and Grete Laska, Deputy Mayor, summing up the huge success of UEFA EURO 2008TM in Vienna. Spain won the exciting final on 29 June 2008, which marked the end of the competition.

One billion TV viewers

Vienna will definitely benefit from the media reports, said the Mayor. About a billion people watched the matches on TV, and a total of about 6,500 media representatives were at the stadium during the seven matches in Vienna. The organisers said there were thousands of reports in all media that presented a positive impression of Vienna to the world. Concerns voiced during the preparations were unfounded, after all, and UEFA EURO 2008TM was a big success with the fans and the Viennese alike.

Thanks to everyone involved

People forming the Host City Vienna Logo on the pitch of Ernst-Happel-StadionThe Mayor of Vienna thanked everyone involved who had helped make UEFA EURO 2008TM a successful event and brilliant festival for the 1.2 million fans in Vienna, and all the organisations that had cooperated excellently: the departments of the Vienna City Administration, the federal government departments, the police, and the emergency services. UEFA President Michel Platini also acknowledged the outstanding efforts and exemplary organisation of the host countries Austria and Switzerland.


Deputy Mayor: It was simply beautiful

Fans in the Fan Zone in front of the Burgtheater at night"It was simply beautiful", said Grete Laska, Deputy Mayor of Vienna, and underlined that the Ernst-Happel-Stadion, "the old lady", had been an excellent venue and would surely be the ideal choice for other great events in the future. The investments in renovating the stadium and in upgrading the infrastructure in the area such as extending underground line U2 were all sustainable and worth the effort. The agency "stadt wien marketing" had set up "the most beautiful fan zone of all times", and the unofficial fan zone in Vienna's 16th district of Ottakring, where fans of many different ethnic backgrounds peacefully celebrated the football event together, was proof of Vienna's successful integration policies. Public transport ran smoothly throughout the European Championship, private transport posed no problems either, and safety and security were guaranteed at all times. In general, the biggest event Vienna had ever seen had been perfectly organised. Kurt Ehrengruber, the chairman of the Organising Committee of the City of Vienna, said that the Austria national football team had not reached its objectives in the tournament but the country had surely been Europe's best organiser.

UEFA EURO 2008TM: facts & figures

  • 7 to 29 June 2008
  • winner: Spain
  • 8 host cities in Austria and Switzerland
  • 16 participating countries
  • 31 matches
  • 7 matches in Vienna (Ernst-Happel-Stadion)
  • 60 guests of state in Vienna
  • 1,145,476 fans in the fan zone
  • 126,091 fans on the day of the final (29 June)
  • 119,000 fans at the match Austria - Germany (16 June)
  • 700 artists and 83 performances in the fan zone
  • 6,500 media representatives
  • 7.4 million additional passengers on Vienna Public Transport
  • 0.4 per cent increase in overnight stays in June (865,000 overnight stays)
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