Innsbruck is sports crazy as you would expect of a city surrounded by the Alps and twice host to the Winter Olympics. It is one of four Austrian host venues for UEFA EURO 2008™, alongside Vienna, Salzburg and Klagenfurt. Innsbruck’s mayor Hilde Zach, who has been in office since 2002, shared with euro2008.com the state of preparations to date and the general atmosphere in the city.

It is a great honour for Innsbruck to be chosen as a venue for the world’s third biggest sporting event. We are delighted that Innsbruck was selected as one of the eight cities that have the honour of hosting this great event that stars the best teams in Europe.

Sporting past
We will do everything in our power to offer the fans an unforgettable atmosphere, not just in the stadium, but also in the fan zones. Innsbruck has shown itself to be a fantastic city for sporting competitions, having held two Winter Olympics, an Ice Hockey World Cup and various other events. We are really looking forward to welcoming visitors from all over Europe.

Full swing
The preparations for UEFA EURO 2008™ are in full swing and groups have been organised to deal with marketing, security, stadium issues, traffic and fan support. I had the opportunity to experience first-hand the fabulous atmosphere generated by the public viewing of games during the FIFA World Cup in Germany. The German host cities are a model for us and in Innsbruck we want to create an attractive incentive for guests to come to our city by emulating the German fan zones.

Enthusiasm
The World Cup highlighted how much enthusiasm major football tournaments can create and right now, with EURO qualification well under way, along with the construction of new stadiums, the level of interest in the tournament has risen significantly. For me, as mayor, it’s a great honour for Innsbruck to have been selected as a match venue for UEFA EURO 2008™ and I’m happy to play my part in ensuring that the tournament in Austria and Switzerland is the best yet.