Düsseldorf submitted a very good application for Euro 2024 and became one of ten venues. Now the city will be rewarded again. A quarter-final is also among the five games allocated by Uefa
In the European Championship of men in 2024 Düsseldorf Venue for a total of five games. Among them is even a quarterfinal. The city leaders had counted on four games, they had hoped for five games. The fact that there are now actually five is considered an extraordinary success. Lord Mayor Stephan Keller (CDU):
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“Of all the host cities, we have a stadium with one of the lowest spectator capacities, so it’s a great honor and appreciation of our work that we’re hosting five games.”
The trust of Uefa and the German Football Association (DFB) is both a reward and a motivation “that in two years’ time we will be celebrating a great Euro for fans and our citizens with a diverse and high-quality program in Düsseldorf,” said Keller. City director Burkhard Hintzsche (SPD) emphasized that Düsseldorf, as a sports city with its infrastructure, offers the best conditions for major events such as the Euro. “We already took an excellent third place in the ranking of German cities during the application process.”
Big event in Germany
Euro 2024 will take place from June 14th to July 14th. 24 teams then play out the European champions in a total of 51 games. Up to 2.5 million fans are expected in the stadiums, and several billion TV viewers will follow the games on screen. The advertising value for the cities is correspondingly high. The games in Düsseldorf have been scheduled for June 17, 21 and 24 (group games) and July 1 (round of 16). On July 6, 2024 there will also be a quarter-final in the arena. Which teams and nations will play in Düsseldorf will only be known after the group draw, which is planned for the end of 2023. The pairings also determine what’s going on in each city – attractive teams attract more fans.
In addition to Düsseldorf, the Euro games will take place in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen and Frankfurt am Main. Düsseldorf is the only newcomer, all other venues were already there at the 2006 World Cup, which went down in history as a summer fairy tale. In addition, the Düsseldorf Arena with around 46,000 seats is the smallest of the ten EM stadiums. It is being remodeled for the big appearance, including a new press area in a box on the west side.
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effect on the city?
From the point of view of the Düsseldorf economy, IHK general manager Gregor Berghausen was happy about the large number of games. Firstly, international football is great advertising and will help to make Düsseldorf better known abroad. Secondly, the local companies would of course also benefit directly from the football fans who flock to Düsseldorf: trade, gastronomy, hotels. “Everyone gets a clear impulse,” says Berghausen. Restaurateur Giuseppe Saitta, Dehoga chairman in Düsseldorf, also sees it this way: “The city needs events like this. Our industry is finding hope again.”
The city leaders see themselves confirmed in their strategy of positioning Düsseldorf as a city for major events. In the entertainment area, this included the hosting of the ESC 2011, in sports the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2017 was an event at which the sports world and, above all, event professionals looked to Düsseldorf. This year, the DFB announced that Düsseldorf is one of the places with which Germany is entering the Uefa application process for Euro 2024.
Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin then announced in September 2018 that the euro would be awarded to Germany. Düsseldorf was the best candidate in the west and the third best in Germany after Berlin and Munich. When it came to safety, Düsseldorf even presented the best concept.
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