Kick-off Countdown: Inside UEFA EURO 2024's Stadium Preparations
Explore the preparations for UEFA EURO 2024 in an exclusive interview with Alexandre Huber, Head of Venue Operations. From infrastructure upgrades to accessibility initiatives, delve into the intricate details shaping the tournament's stadiums for an unforgettable football experience.
An interview with Mr. Alexandre Huber – Head of Venue Operations
As the countdown to UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany accelerates, the anticipation among football enthusiasts intensifies. Behind the scenes, a flurry of activity is underway to ensure that the tournament's venues are primed to deliver an unforgettable experience for fans worldwide.
 | In an exclusive interview with ESSMA, Alexandre Huber, the Head of Venue Operations for UEFA EURO 2024, provides a comprehensive overview of the meticulous preparations taking place. With his extensive background spanning 17 years at UEFA, Mr. Huber offers valuable insights into the transformative upgrades, innovative technologies, and logistical strategies being implemented across the tournament's host cities. From sustainable stadium renovations to cutting-edge security measures, Huber delves into the intricate details shaping the infrastructure for EURO 2024. He sheds light on the challenges posed by hosting such a colossal event, the integration of accessibility initiatives, and the adoption of emerging trends to enhance both safety and fan engagement. Join us on a journey behind the scenes as we unravel the complexities of stadium preparations, explore the vision driving EURO 2024, and uncover the final steps paving the way for a truly remarkable football spectacle. |
Building the Foundation: Introduction to UEFA EURO 2024
ESSMA: Mr. Huber, could you please start off by introducing yourself to the ESSMA community?
Mr. Huber: I joined UEFA back in summer 2007 as a coordinator. This summer it is going to be my 17th year. I have a hospitality background, but I always had my fingers in the events industry from organising events. During my time at UEFA, I had the chance, I would even say the privilege, to be involved in different types of events UEFA has in its portfolio. From futsal EUROs to a women's EURO, under 21 EUROs, Champions League finals, Europa League finals, Super Cup…. Finally, the pan-European EURO, which unfortunately got affected by COVID was my first EURO. And now EURO 2024 in Germany is my second one. In all those events, I was always involved in Venue Operations.
ESSMA: We're now only about two months away from EURO 2024 in Germany. What is the current situation of the infrastructure?
Mr. Huber: A lot of time and energy was invested by all 10 venues in order to use EURO 2024 as a catalyst to renovate or upgrade the stadiums to today's best practices. There is still some work that is being completed now, but all the constructions will be able to be finish on time.
ESSMA: We see a big difference with other tournaments in the past, especially FIFA World Cups, where you had South Africa, Brazil, Qatar… which needed a lot of new infrastructure. Now there was already quite a lot of infrastructure in place. How does that change the approach for the head of venue operations?
Mr. Huber: We try to have a more sustainable approach with using existing stadiums. Of course, we have our tournament requirements. We want the hosting venues to use our tournament requirements to upgrade their infrastructure. We have some requirements which are non-negotiable, where we are not open to any kind of adaptation. For example, the floodlights, which is quite important to the overall game experience.
We have cyber security, our colleagues from our ICT unit are doing different working visits, doing cyber security tests. Some stadiums are now upgrading the infrastructure to be ready to push back any cyber attacks. We have the access control systems as well. EURO 2024 will be a paperless event, so we need to be sure that the existing systems can read the barcodes from the phone.
And then again sometimes we prefer to build temporary facilities. For example: we need to have four or five pitch studios, which are elements of facilities that are never going to be used again. We have an approach to build it ourselves, because usually the requirements are not met when using existing facilities. There's no point for stadiums to build something that is not being used in the future. So here we actually prefer to build a temporary infrastructure to be cost-efficient.
Infrastructure Evolution: Preparing Stadiums for the Spotlight
ESSMA: Are there a lot of changes that are made to the infrastructure itself: hospitality rooms, seating, F&B points of sales…?
Mr. Huber: There are plenty of things that were done. Stuttgart built an entire new main stand. The stand itself was already used, but they just opened the hospitality area, they built a new tunnel club… Or if you take Hamburg SV, they changed the entire roof membrane and upgraded their sound system. BVB Dortmund installed new LED walls on its outside façade. ….. RBLeipzig has built a new broadcast compound to meet some of the requirements. So you can see they really used the advantage of having the EURO’s to improve their stadiums.
We have another topic, the so-called “electromagnetic compatibility”. Very simplified, this describes the influence of existing stadium power infrastructure and especially the power quality in each stadium on our temporary EURO operations. The power quality in the stadium has an influence on sensible electronic devices such as broadcasting equipment. In parallel to „external measures“ that we take (such as the implementation of dedicated transformers for the domestic power source on the broadcast compound or the usage of active harmonic filters), the stadiums had and have to clean their system from faulty electrical devices and installations.
Another big topic is air conditioning. Part of our tournament requirements is that the hospitality areas need to be covered with air conditioning, especially since we are playing during the summertime. We need to guarantee a certain temperature in the skyboxes and the hospitality areas. Some stadiums are investing a lot to install an AC system which will be beneficial for their guests in the future as well.
Finally, we have renovated dressing rooms, toilet facilities, new wheelchair positions as well to meet the standards of the competition. We have some stadiums that changed their VIP seats. So, there is a lot of work which was done by the stadiums in the last couple of years just to renovate the stadiums and bring them up to modern standards.
Accessibility and Inclusivity: Opening Doors for All
ESSMA: One of the things that you mentioned there was new wheelchair positions. Of course, a tournament like UEFA EURO 2024 wants to be accessible and inclusive for all, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been done in terms of those requirements?
Mr. Huber: We work a lot with different associations such as CAFE (Centre for Access for Football in Europe). From a welcome perspective we have a project which is called Spectator Services Project: it consists of more or less 250 volunteers that we have around the stadium or in the stadium to welcome all spectators and guide them either to the entrance or to the specific facilities.
Then we have the event guide, which is already published and being updated with all the information about the host cities, but also about the stadiums. How to go to the host city, how to get from the host city to the stadium… That is also linked to the fan app. Then we have gender-neutral facilities. That goes from sanitary facilities to channels at the outer security perimeter.
We increased wheelchair facilities and services. We have what we call shuttle services, where the distance from the last transport hub to the stadium is too long. We have assistant dogs’ options as well, allowing spectators to come with their assistant dogs into the stadium.
In addition, we have the so-called grievance mechanism and as well the safe space, which is also known as the Panama concept in Dortmund. Anyone being in the stadium who doesn't feel well can just go to a steward and say ‘please bring me to Panama’ and they bring them to a safe space.
So, these are some of the elements or the different services that we are currently organising. We hope that the stadiums are then using these EURO 2024 updates as a legacy and continue this path in the future.
Innovative Technologies: Enhancing Fan Experience and Safety
ESSMA: Which new trends and technologies are you looking at now to increase fan experience and safety for UEFA EURO 2024?
Mr. Huber: We went from a partially paperless event to a full paperless event. We have the Fan App, which is one of the key communication tools. We can use push notifications to inform spectators about any issues, for example on the public transport network.
We introduced a so-called density area map; we can see where groups of spectators are. We cannot see individually who is there, but we can select a zone that we would like to send a push notification with useful information to and all the people using the FAN app in that zone will receive it. We know people don't like to open up their phone to too many different services, but I think for the best experience, they need to activate the tool.
We're also using reusable cups in all 10 venues. So, from a safety point of view, people will now need to bring back their cups, avoiding any hazards potentially created by the cups laying on the floor and we are more sustainable And finally from a fan experience perspective we also have the “fan-first tickets”, so tickets which have reasonable prices for the fans. We started from €30.
Fan Zones and Celebrations: Creating a Vibrant Atmosphere
ESSMA: UEFA EURO 2024 will once again be that true celebration of football with the fans gathering in all the hosting venues. Is UEFA planning to organise something special in the hosting villages to support this celebration of football?
Mr Huber: We have one team, which is specifically looking at the fan zones. Of course, this is something that is more developed and prepared by the host cities, and they are investing a lot in creating beautiful fan zones.
We have 18 fan zones in total. We have host cities, doing more than one fan zone. On top of that we have public viewing. And we are expecting to have more than 10 million visitors in all facilities.
Navigating Logistics: Transportation and Crowd Management
ESSMA: More than 10 million visitors must result in some logistical challenges in transportation, parking, crowd management… How have you prepared the tournament venues for these challenges?
Mr. Huber: We have a dedicated team that is looking at the whole city operation and everything which is linked to transport and mobility. It's their responsibility as well to bring all the spectators from their home safely to the stadium and back.
We also try to reduce the carbon footprint linked to the transport. The match ticket is in fact a combi ticket, which allows you to use public transport in the city for 36 hours to travel for free on the local network.
Deutsche Bahn also created different offers to come by train from abroad to Germany. And then we also have special offers to travel from one city to the other. You only need to prove that you have a ticket for UEFA EURO 2024.
Parking spaces need to be pre-reserved, so you cannot come on match day with your car. We need to know who is coming pre-reserved. We are charging 24 euros for the parking and from those 24 euros, 5 euros go into the climate fund that UEFA established for this EURO for the first time.
Countdown to Kickoff: Final Milestones and Readiness Checks
ESSMA: Of course, there were some cities that were lucky enough to be selected for a hosting a venue. What were the main criteria used to select those stadiums to host the matches?
Mr. Huber: First, the capacity. The minimum acceptable capacity was 40,000. This was already a selection element. Then overall infrastructure or state of the venue and the presented renovation and upgrade plans to be sure that the proposed venue will meet the requirements. Furthermore the DFB did an internal bidding process in Germany to select the venues.
ESSMA: Lastly, with just around two months to go until UEFA EURO 2024 kicks off, what
are the key milestones and the remaining tasks now leading up to the start of the tournament?
Mr. Huber: One of the big steps or milestones that we just completed; we came back from the so-called “working visit three”, the last stadium inspection tour with all the different projects. The reports have been shared with the stadiums. We are waiting for their feedback and the colleagues from the venue management team are doing the follow-up to close all the different outstanding points that we have.
At the moment, we are doing a joined exercise training. It's always important to understand different scenarios in different venues. Tabletop simulation exercises in June, just before the tournament when everyone is on board, will help us prepare for everything. So really from planning, we now go into the implementation phase. And for all the newcomers it's briefing and training of the different colleagues.
So, it's following up of the open points, the handing over and then the tabletop exercises. Those are the next big steps coming up now. We need to be sure that everyone expects the unexpected and knows their role in those situations. Everyone needs to be ready and we will be for this celebration of football!