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Party with respect is UEFA's watchword
by Mark Chaplin from Basel
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Turkey and Croatia fans mingled well before
their quarter-final (¿UEFA)
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UEFA has urged the UEFA EURO 2008T semi-finals in Basel
and Vienna to become a football celebration - and has reiterated its satisfaction
at the overall attitude of respect that has been prevalent at the tournament
up to now.
Respect
The matches between Germany and Turkey at Basel's St. Jakob-Park tonight,
and Spain and Russia at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna on Thursday,
are featuring the campaign to eliminate racism from football, while the
entire final round has been staged with the motto 'Respect' in mind -
in particular respect towards opponents, other fans and referees. So far,
respect has been the order of the day in Austria and Switzerland, with
the huge majority of fans on their best behaviour.
Values
"We've been very lucky at this EURO," said UEFA communications
director William Gaillard, "and I want to congratulate fans from
all over Europe, from all the countries represented, and certainly from
the host countries. There is great satisfaction. We can turn these semi-finals
- dedicated to the fight against racism - into a celebration of the fraternity
that has developed around this tournament, and I'm sure that everyone
will be very grateful to the teams, to the host countries and to the visiting
fans for the respect they've shown towards each other and towards the
values that football should be conveying."
Euro2008.com,
25 June 2008
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