LONDON: Euro 2008 was just as successful off the pitch as on it, UEFA communications director William Gaillard said on Monday, praising the good behaviour of the hundreds of thousands of travelling fans at the championship.
Gaillard applauded the supporters who poured into Austria and Switzerland to watch matches in the stadiums and fan zones, saying they had adhered to UEFA’s chosen theme for the Finals of “respect”.
“We had a campaign before and during the tournament based on the theme of ‘respect’,” Gaillard said at a news briefing in Vienna.
“It’s probably the first time that we have not heard national anthems being booed by one part of the public. We have had no particular incidents with fans.
“We have had huge fan zones with tens of thousands of fans together – there was plenty of mixing in the stadiums, very friendly meetings between fans and practically no problems with racism and discrimination.
“I think that football comes out really strengthened from the whole event in addition to the technical side (on the field), which was wonderful.”
Gaillard’s comments follow those of Italian former referee Pierluigi Collina, who said the success of the European governing body’s “respect” initiative was evident from watching the behaviour of players on the field.
“The main thing achieved in this tournament was what was written on the shirt – that’s respect. Respect was shown during the tournament,” Collina told a news conference on Saturday.
There were only three red cards issued in 31 matches at Euro 2008, fewer than at any previous European Championship since 1992. – Reuters
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