EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: The arenas

Eight cities will host the Euro 2008 games, equally divided between the two host countries, Austria and Switzerland.

Most of the stadiums were either built for the tournament or substantially reconstructed, so spectators and viewers can expect a high quality atmosphere. The average capacity of the stadiums is about 30 000 seats, which will add to the “hot air” during the games.

Vienna will be the venue for all of the games played by Austria in the group stage, while Basel will serve the same purpose for the Swiss team. The two cities will host the quarterfinals, the semi-final s and the last two games of the tournament.

The kick-off of the tournament on June 7 will take place in Basel with a game between Switzerland and the Czech Republic starting at 7pm. St. Jakob-Park is the home of local FC Basel.

It was re-opened in 2001 after reconstruction that increased its seating capacity to 42 000, which makes it the largest sports venue in Switzerland. Besides the opening game, St. Jakob-Park will host the June 11 Switzerland v Turkey match and the June 15 Switzerland v Portugal match. Uefa has awarded it four stars – the highest amount of stars that can be awarded to a stadium of that size.

In total, just two games will be played on June 7. Besides the opening match, fans can watch Portugal v Turkey at Stade de Geneve in Geneva. The stadium was completed in 2003 after three years of of construction and has a seating capacity of 32 000. Local Servette FC plays its game at the venue. The June 11 game, Czech Republic v Portugal, is also scheduled to take place at the stadium as well as the June 15 Turkey v Czech Republic game.

The other hosts from Austria will have their opening game at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium on June 8 against Croatia. The 53 000-seat stadium will have the honour of hosting the final game of the tournament on June 29. Uefa has rated it as one of its five-star stadiums. The June 12 Austria v Poland and the June 16 Austria v Germany matches will also be played at the venue.

One of the most interesting games in the group stages, that between Germany and Poland, will be hosted by the Austrian town of Klagenfurt am Worthersee. The Hypo-Arena is the home venue of local SK Austria Karnten. It was built especially for Euro 2008, replacing the old club stadium. The new venue has a capacity of 32 000 seats, which will be reduced to 12 500 after the end of the event. It will host the June 12 Croatia v Germany and the June 16 Poland v Croatia games.

Stade de Suisse Wankdorf in Berne will host the June 9 Netherlands v Italy match. On June 13, the Netherlands will play against France in what is expected to be a football classic, and on June 17, the Netherlands will face Romania. Opened in 2005, the stadium is the home venue for Swiss football team BSC Young Boys and is currently the second-largest sport venue in the country with a capacity of 32 000 seats.

Zurich will be the fourth Swiss town to host Euro 2008 games. Letzigrund Stadium was opened in 2007 and is the home of local FC Zurich. It has a capacity of 30 000 seats and will host three games – Romania v France on June 9, Italy v Romania on June 13 and France v Italy on June 17.

EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim in Salzburg was also recently opened. Local Red Bull Salzburg has been the host club of the 30 000-seat stadium since the day it was opened in 2003 and reconstructed in 2006. It is the only stadium in Austria that has an artificial turf. It will host three of the group stage games – Greece v Sweden on June 10, Greece v Russia on June 14 and Greece v Spain on June 18.

Tivoli Neu Stadion in Innsbruck is the home ground of FC Wacker Tirol. Built in 2000, it has a capacity of 17 000 seats, which makes is the smallest sporting venue of the tournament. It will host games mainly from group D – Spain v Russia on June 10, Sweden v Spain on June 14 and Russia v Sweden on June 18.