|
Austria looks for soccer distraction
VIENNA, Austria: Austria always knew it would spend the middle of 2008
in the international spotlight. The country just expected it to be for
a different reason.
One month before Austria co-hosts the European Championship with Switzerland,
the country is in the headlines around the world because of the nightmarish
events that allegedly took place for a generation in the basement of a
house in Amstetten, 75 miles west of the capital.
Austrian sports secretary Reinhold Lopatka thinks Euro 2008 could give
the country's damaged image a boost, pointing out that the Amstetten case
- in which a man is accused of imprisoning his daughter and fathering
seven children with her - does not reflect "the real Austria."
"Euro 2008 will show Austria like it really is," Lopatka said.
"A hospitable and sophisticated country, where sports and culture
are at home."
In neighboring Switzerland, a traditionally neutral and peace-loving country,
an exciting race for the league title spilled over into violence at two
Euro 2008 stadiums last week. Fans confronted police after matches involving
title challengers Basel and Young Boys Bern on Friday.
Tear gas was used to subdue Young Boys fans after their team lost at the
Stade de Suisse. Basel followers tried to attack supporters from rival
Zurich who set off fireworks smuggled into the St. Jakob Park. Forty-five
people were injured.
"We had to intervene because otherwise the fans of Basel would have
taken apart the fans of Zurich," said Nicolas Drechsler, spokesman
for Basel canton security department.
Policing levels are already set at a fivefold increase for Euro 2008 games,
he said, while extra security checks at a perimeter cordon would stop
fans trying to carry weapons into the stadium where Switzerland and the
Czech Republic play in the June 7 opener.
Drechsler said the Swiss national team attracted a different, calmer type
of fan, many from rural areas. The cost of tickets, travel and hotels
also figure to keep many potential hooligans away.
"The people who come here from other countries have to bring a certain
amount of money because it is not cheap. Life in Switzerland is not cheap;
the trip is not cheap, so there is a certain preselection," he said.
The Union of European Football Associations hopes this is true, because
the game at the most risk from hooliganism also is the most expensive
on the scalpers' market. One agency is asking $2,475 to watch Germany
play Poland on June 8 at Klagenfurt, Austria.
A month and a day before that game, German soccer has picked a bad time
for a crisis in confidence.
Dominant club Bayern Munich, featuring key national-team players Bastian
Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose, won the Bundesliga and
the German Cup. Yet it was eliminated from the UEFA Cup with a 4-0 loss
to Russia's Zenit St. Petersburg in the semifinals last week.
"That has to force everyone to think about what we can optimize,"
Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "We have to improve our play off
the ball to belong to the world's best."
UEFA president Michel Platini has supported Germany's claim to be favorite
in what looks a wide-open tournament. Platini, who led France to victory
on home soil 24 years ago, thinks both host nations will overcome criticism
that they have failed to warm to their task.
"This is normal. We said the same things at the World Cup in France
in 1998, or the Euro in 1984. Do not worry," Platini said in Geneva
last week. "Fever will mount in early June with the arrival of the
teams in Switzerland and Austria. From there, I expect one month's frenzy.
And it is better to party then than before."
For many Austrians, the soccer will be a happy distraction.
---------------------
Willemsen reported from Vienna, Dunbar from Geneva.
International
Herald Tribune, May 6, 2008
|
|
