Algarve > Euro 2004 News

Portugal Euro 2004 News

After The Terror

In the wake of the terror attacks in Madrid 3/11 Portugal has stepped up border controls and the Portuguese authorities are considering installing metal detectors at stadium gates. "These bombings make us feel that the world is more insecure," Leonel Carvalho, Euro-2004 security co-ordinator, told the AP news agency. "We must ensure security is handled in the best possible way." "Obviously these attacks are a cause for concern, especially for us, being Spain's neighbours ... We have prepared the security for the national teams according to an evaluation of the degree of threat to them,. and naturally, what happened in Madrid may alter that evaluation, but there are still three months to go, so anything can happen. But we have sufficient means to give protection to any team that might need greater attention."

Drugs Testing For All Euro 2004 Teams

UEFA will conduct drugs tests on all the 16 competing teams at Euro 2004 before the finals begin in June. Jacob Erel, the UEFA's director Euro 2004 operations, said the teams would undergo drugs tests at friendly games in the lead-up to the tournament or at their training camps. UEFA would have five anti-doping officers in Portugal during Euro 2004 who will take urine samples from players before each match. "All 31 matches will be tested, from the opening matches to the final round," Erel added.
Three players from both squads, and up to two reserve players, will face random urine testing before each game.

England Kit / Squad

England will wear a new hi-tech away kit this summer at Euro 2004. The shirt, which was developed in conjunction with NASA, is made of over 99% pure silver weave, a material which helps to keep a player's temperature at a constant level in both hot and cold climates. The new shirt will also display the 1966 World Cup winners gold star above the England three lions badge. The team will use the new strip for the first time in the friendly international against Sweden in Gothenburg March 31. Sweden are the other team at Euro 2004 to try the new kits.
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will name his 23-man party for Euro 2004 on May 17 two weeks before the official deadline of June 2. England have two final warm-up matches at the City of Manchester stadium against Japan on June 1 and Iceland on June 5.

Drunken Fans To Be Barred From Games

Drunken fans at Euro 2004 with a blood alcohol level of 1.2 grams per liter will be turned away from matches according to Lieutenant-General Leonel de Carvalho, head of the Portuguese government security committee for this summer's tournament. Portugal's legal blood alcohol limit for motorists is 0.5 grams per litre. A level of 1.2 grams per litre is considered a crime in Portugal. Carvalho said tests would be made on fans suspected of being over the limit at the entrance to stadiums with equipment similar to that used to check drivers' sobriety. Like much of the hot air emitted by the Japanese and Korean organizers before World Cup 2002, it is difficult to see this one getting off the ground.

The Roteiro: New Euro 2004 Ball

The new Adidas Roteiro ball - the official ball to be used at Euro 2004 - is playing to mixed reviews like its predecessor the Adidas Fevernova for the 2002 World Cup. After Spain's 2-1 friendly win over Peru last week, Spain's coach Inaki Saez joined several of his players in criticising the new ball. "As it has no seams it behaves very strangely," said Saez. "It's horrible, difficult to control and to pass." Real Madrid's Ivan Helguera went further, calling it a "beach ball." "I don't like it at all. To send it where you want you really have to hit it hard." Real Betis striker Joaquin is also not a fan of the 32 panel design, which features the latest thermal bonding technology. "It's hard to believe they can call this a ball," he said. "It lifts a lot and doesn't follow a true line." England's captain and free kick specialist David Beckham, who is sponsored by Adidas, praised the Roteiro: "The most important thing for me is to know that I can rely on the ball to go exactly where I want it to go. The new Roteiro reacts very well to my foot. I've noticed that the accuracy of my corners, my passing and, of course, my free kicks improved. Keepers are going to have a very tough time."

Portugal v England Very Friendly

The February 18 England v Portugal friendly international in Faro passed off virtually without incident. 5 England fans were arrested for assaulting a police officer but overall the evening was peaceful. Over 1500 fans watched the game on a giant screen in a park in central Faro - again without any trouble. The match ended in a tame 1-1 draw after England had taken the lead in the second half with a scrambled goal by debutant Ledley King equalized by a blistering free kick from Pauleta.
However, traffic jams to the new stadium streched over 10 km for the approximately 7,000 cars that attempted to make their way to the ground and some car drivers left their vehicles and continued on foot. The 30-minute journey from Albufeira to Faro took over two-and-a-half hours on the night.

Industrial Action Threatened

Portuguese truck drivers are threatening strike action that would leave the country without fuel during Euro 2004 unless their demands over improved pay and working conditions are met. "What we are saying is that if there is no evolution in negotiations until June, we will go on strike during the Euro finals until there is a solution," said Vitor Pereira, a leader of Portugal's main truck drivers' union FESTRU, which represents over 40,000 truckers. The drivers are demanding higher wages, tax breaks on fuel and the continuation of collective bargaining. Earlier hotel workers also threatened to strike during Euro 2004, and police have also said they may stage protests over poor pay and working conditions.

England Portugal Sign Hooligan Agreement

Surprise, surprise...England, Germany and Holland top the list of supporters with the highest risk of causing trouble at Euro 2004, according to Nuno Magalhães, The Portuguese Secretary of State for Home Affairs. "We are getting ready, preventively, so that (hooligans) don't come. Second, if they do come, the security forces will have a reaction that is fast, effective and proportional, with the least damage possible," Magalhães said.
Portugal and Britain are to sign a cooperation agreement which includes a provision that allows the British authorities to seize the passports of about 2,500 known hooligans just before the tournament kicks off. The Portuguese are considering similar provisions with the Dutch and German governments.
In an effort to promote cultural exchanges and foster links between England and Portuguese football fans leading up to Euro 2004, the British Council supported by England fan groups has organised a series of good-will events to coincide with the February 18 England v Portugal friendly in Faro.
Wales Fight On

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) will appeal UEFA's rejection of their claim to have Russia thrown out of Euro 2004. The Welsh are demanding UEFA overturn the result of last November's playoff, which Russia won 1-0, following midfielder Yegor Titov's positive drug test following the first leg. [see below] UEFA turned down FAW's original case on the grounds that: Wales offered no proof Titov was doped in the second-leg, and teams are not considered liable when one player commits a doping offence. (The fact that Argentina were not expelled from the 1994 World Cup after Maradona's positive test is an obvious precedent). Welsh manager, Mark Hughes, who will address UEFA officials as part of the Welsh case at the new hearing, said: "Logistics of ticket sales, hotels booked, draws made, should not come into it. Yugoslavia dropped out in '92 and Denmark came off the beach to win the tournament and just took over their fixtures, so there is no need for a re-draw."

Wales Appeal Rejected

UEFA rejected Wales' appeal February 3 to have their 0-1 defeat to Russia in the Euro 2004 playoffs overturned following a positive drug test of Russian player Yegor Titov. The Football Association of Wales (FAW) argued that Titov, who played 60 minutes of the second leg at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, was ineligible as he had tested positive for the stimulant bromantan following the first leg in Moscow. FAW claimed the result should be declared null and void and a 3-0 victory awarded to Wales. UEFA's disciplinary committee declared the Welsh case "unfounded" and the result should stand. Titov has been banned for one year and will miss Euro 2004.

Tournament Costs

The Portuguese Prime Minister's office estimated the total cost of Euro 2004 at €611 million, with €185 million coming from public money.

Azzurri to Base Near Lisbon

The Italian squad's training camp for Euro 2004 has been announced and will be Belenenses Restelo Stadium, just outside Lisbon. The Azzurri are due to arrive in Portugal June 7. The beaten finalists in Euro 2000 will play their Group C matches in Guimarães and Porto. The Italians face Denmark in their opening game in Guimarães on June 14 and must also overcome Sweden and Bulgaria to reach the second round.

2000 England Fans Banned

Over 2000 England fans have banning orders imposed on them ahead of Euro 2004 and the number is expected to rise ahead of the tournament with the authorities seeking a further 600 court orders. Undercover police 'spotters' will also travel to Portugal in June to liaise with their Portuguese counterparts and police will check for known hooligans at UK ports and airports during the event. Over 200,000 Brits are expected in Portugal this summer with 50,000 there to see the football.
The Portuguese Secretary of State for Home Affairs, Nuno Magalhães, outlined a plan to deploy between 600 and 1,000 officers inside stadiums and 3,000 outside. About 60,000 police, coastguards, immigration officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers will be on duty, according to Magalhães. All leave has been cancelled for the duration of the tournament. These numbers were challenged by Alberto Torres - president of the Trade Union Association of Police Professionals (ASPP/PSP) - who claimed there were not enough police officers in Portugal to fulfill Magalhães' plan.

Crowd Trouble at Guimarães

Guimarães Stadium has been closed for 30 days by the Portuguese FA following crowd trouble at the Vitória de Guimarães v Boavista match on February 1. Fans ripped out seats and hurled them at players and officials as they left the pitch after the game. The authorities now plan to erect a cover over the tunnel ahead of this summer's Euro 2004.

Black Market Ticket Fears

At a January 23 press conference, Portugal Euro 2004 organizers expressed concern over Internet sites purporting to offer tickets for the upcoming tournament. "All the tickets on offer through unofficial Web sites, around the world and especially in Britain, are attempts to ambush fans," Portuguese Soccer Federation president Gilberto Madail was quoted as saying. "Those sites haven't got any tickets." Madail acknowledged that fans were also selling on extra or unwanted tickets they had purchased and expressed concern over the disruption to the organizers' plans for fan segregation.
Euro 2004 ticket regulations state fans can purchase a maximum four tickets for any match up to a total of 19 matches. The buyer must retain one ticket and is held legally responsible for the other three.
Ticket requests are recorded on a database at the official site www.euro2004.com and cross-checked for known hooligans. Euro 2004 tickets will be issued nearer to the start of the June event.

Police Protest Poor Conditions

Portugal's 22,000 police officers are planning protests against government underfunding in the run-up to Euro 2004. Despite a €16.5m outlay on new riot gear (see below), Portuguese police have been protesting inadequate state funding for police stations and computer equipment. According to the president of the Portuguese police association, Alberto Torres, only eight of Lisbon's more than 100 police stations are in working order and officers must buy their own uniforms and even handcuffs. "The government claims it has modernized forces for the tournament," Torres told a news conference, "But as we do not feel that modernization has taken place, we have no option, whether there is a Euro tournament going on or not, but to continue to protest." Portugal is the EU's poorest nation having regained the bottom spot from Greece in 2003.

Portuguese Police Gear Up For Euro 2004

Like their colleagues in Korea and Japan before them at the 2002 World Cup, the Portuguese authorities have taken the twin 'security threats' posed by terrorism and hooliganism to a large football tournament to retool their hardware. The Portuguese government has cancelled all police leave during the event and is spending €16.5m on seven water cannon trucks (the country's first), new batons, pepper spray and riot gear.
"In the case of terrorism, despite it being a worry, there is no specific threat linked to Euro 2004," police chief General Leonel de Carvalho told Diario de Noticias. "What we are concerned with is protecting the teams, monitoring the fans, the crowds who gather not just in the stadiums but also between matches."
"Most [fans] will come just for the competition but a small minority will take advantage of the opportunity to carry out violent acts," de Carvalho added. Portugal is not immune to incidents of football hooliganism - three men were seriously injured recently following fighting between rival Benfica and Sporting fans at a Lisbon train station.

England Fans Might Behave!

Liverpool University professor Dr Clifford Stott, a leading expert in crowd disorder, believes the expected 50,000 English fans who will visit Portugal this summer could be on their best behaviour. Dr Stott - who has been advising Portuguese police chiefs - believes a graded approach to policing, based on the Dutch model, could diffuse any potential outbreaks of violence. England risk being expelled from the tournament if fans misbehave again. Let's hope the peaceful Korea/Japan World Cup when the English fans' behaviour was exemplary is the way of the future.

Bessa and Braga Stadiums Inaugurated

The renovated 30,000 capacity Estádio do Bessa in Porto was inaugurated at the end of 2003 with an exhibition match between home team Boavista and Spain's Málaga CF which ended 0-0. Braga beat Celta de Vigo 1-0, to officially open the spectacular new Estádio Municipal de Braga. The 30,000-capacity stadium, built in an old quarry, was designed by Portuguese architect Souto Moura and has only two stands along the sides of the pitch with the area behind the goals left as a natural amphitheatre. Both stadiums will host Euro 2004 group fixtures - Bulgaria will face Denmark and the Netherlands play Latvia in Braga; at the Estádio do Bessa Greece play Spain, Latvia face Germany and Denmark will meet Sweden.
The Estádio do Algarve also held its first match in December with a game between local Algarve rivals Louletano and Farense. The stadium was officially unveiled in November and will host the Portugal v England friendly February 18.

Portugal Stadiums Costs

The costs of building seven new stadiums and renovating three others to host the 2004 European Championships are expected to be around 640 million euros when the price of commercial areas and clinics are included, with the overall expense increasing to in excess of 800 million euros when the cost of new access roads are factored in. It is the first time that a host country is building new stadiums in order to stage the finals, previously other countries used existing facilities. No new stadiums were purpose built for the 2000 finals in Belgium & Holland or for Euro 96 in England.

Euro 2004 Tickets For National Associations

After a two-day workshop in Lisbon, Uefa has decreed that each of the 16 national federations taking part in Euro 2004 will receive at least 20% of the tickets for the games in which they are competing. If one of the federations in a given game requests less than 20%, the remainder of their ticket allocation may pass to the other federation involved.
In an attempt to restrict the sale of the tickets on the black market, Uefa also decided that the name of the buyer of any tickets from the federations, who will be allowed a maximum of four, will be printed on the tickets. Jacob Erel, Uefa's director of competition operations said: "We have taken several steps to avoid black market sales. There are very strict rules concerning ticketing sales. One big guarantee is that we collect all the data on ticket holders, so we can also reach them and give their data to the relevant authorities."

Rio Ferdinand Out Of Euro 2004

Pending any appeal, Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand seems certainly to miss out on Euro 2004 after his record 8 month ban for missing a drugs test in late September.

Van Basten Warning For Dutch

Former Holland great Marco van Basten has warned the current Dutch squad that they need to compete in Portugal as "sportsmen and not as superstars." Interviewed in the weekly magazine Voetbal International, the former Ajax and AC Milan striker said: "Some of the players behave like movie stars and that has to be handled directly. You are going for honor and country. Players should convince me that they are only thinking about soccer."

Portugal Economy Down

Portugal's economy shrank by 1.5 % in 2003 as consumer spending and business confidence continued to decline. Analysts believe the economy has now hit rock-bottom and will grow in 2004, thanks in part to Portugal's staging of Euro 2004.

England To Play Friendly in Portugal

England will face Portugal February 18 in the new 30,000 capacity Estádio Algarve. The match is being seen as a dry-run for policing procedures ahead of Euro 2004. In excess of 50,000 English fans are expected to attend the finals. The Portuguese government has cancelled all police leave for the duration of the tournament and allocated €16.6 million to procure seven water cannon vehicles as well as new police batons, riot gear, pepper spray and other security equipment.

Aveiro Stadium Unveiled

The 30,000 seat capacity Estádio Municipal de Aveiro was officially inaugurated December 11 with a friendly match between SC Beira Mar (who play their home games in the new ground) and Spanish Primera Liga club Osasuna. Construction costs have risen at the multi-colored stadium making it the most expensive per seat of the ten Euro 2004 stadiums at €2,700 per seat ahead of FC Porto's Estádio do Dragão at €1,900 and Benfica's Luz Stadium at €1,800 per seat.

Euro 2004; Tickets Sold Out Fast

Only 4 matches at Euro 2004 still have tickets available at the official Uefa www.euro2004.com.
Sweden v Bulgaria June 14 in Lisbon (Group C), Czech Republic v Latvia June 15 in Aveiro (Group D), Bulgaria v Denmark June 18 in Braga (Group C) and Russia v Greece June 20 in Faro/Loule (Group A). All the other fixtures have sold out in less than two weeks since the draw on November 30.

Legal Action Over Venue Changes?

The venue changes for England's Group B match with Croatia and the Group D match between Holland and Germany (see below) has prompted an angry response from many fans with tickets for the originally drawn matches in Coimbra and Aveiro. Some disgruntled fans are considering legal action in the Portuguese courts as Uefa is not transferring existing tickets to the new venues.

Euro 2004 Referees

Uefa has announced the 12 referees for Euro 2004:
Lucilio Cardoso Cortez Batista (Portugal), Pierluigi Collina (Italy), Anders Frisk (Sweden), Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain), Terie Hauge (Norway), Valentin Ivanov (Russia), Urs Meier (Switzerland), Markus Merk (Germany), Lubos Michel (Slovakia), Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark), Mike Riley (England), Gilles Veissihre (France).
Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium), Kyros Vassaras (Greece), Alain Hamer (Luxembourg) and Stuart Dougal (Scotland) - will act as fourth officials.

Spain Base in Braga

Spain will set up their training camp in Braga. The team will stay at the Hotel da Falperra, in Santa Cristina de Longos, and train at the Estádio de Maio in Braga, Sporting Clube de Braga's home ground before the construction of their new stadium for Euro 2004, the 30,000 capacity Estádio Municipal de Braga.

Venue Changes: England, Holland, Germany.

England's Group B match with Croatia [Game 20] originally drawn for Coimbra on 21st June has been switched to the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon with a 7:45pm kick off. Uefa officials sited this game as a source of potential crowd trouble and moved the match to the more-heavily policed capital. France will now face Switzerland in Coimbra at the same time.
Similarly Germany's opening Group D clash with Holland on June 15 has been relocated to Porto's Estádio das Antas from Aveiro and kicks off at 5:00pm. The Czech Republic will now face Latvia in Aveiro's Estádio Municipal in a 7:45pm kick off.
The moves make sense in the light of previous crowd trouble at a provincial venue at Euro 2000 in Charleroi, Belgium prior to an England v Germany game, as both Aveiro and Coimbra have similar small city centers and stadiums. It seems that ticket-holders to the original games will not be allowed to transfer their tickets.

Euro 2004 Prize Money Increased

The eventual winners of Euro 2004 could pocket up to €17m after Uefa announced an increase in the tournament's prize money after a two-day meeting in Kiev.
The total prize money for next year's championship is 66% up on Euro 2000 in Belgium/Holland from €74.8m to €124.6m. Each competing team is guaranteed €4.7m, with nearly €714,000 on offer for a group stage win. The eight teams that progress to the quarter-finals will each receive a further €1.8m, with another €2.4m going to the four semi-finalists. The tournament winners collect a cool €6.3m, with the runners-up pocketing €3.7m to ease their heartache.

England Hotel Headache

The England team's plan to stay at the recently built Hotel Solplay on the outskirts of Lisbon has run in to trouble following a legal dispute between the hotel's owners and the builders. The FA has reserved all 119 rooms at the modern luxury hotel. An action in the Portuguese courts is pending as the building firm CME seek to recover 'several million euros' in supposedly unpaid fees while Hotel Solplay maintain the construction work had not been properly finished. All in all, it sounds like normal procedure in the brick trade and Sven's men needn't worry about finding alternative digs.

10 Billion Viewers Expected for Euro 2004

Over 10 billion TV viewers are expected to tune in to Euro 2004 compared to the 7 billion who watched the Euro 2000 tournament in Holland and Belgium. The increase is due to the continuing rise in popularity of European football in the Far East boosted by the number of Asian players from Japan, China and Korea now playing in the top European leagues and Asian tours by European clubs. Real Madrid's pre-season circuit in the Far East helped to further raise the profiles of European stars such as David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Raúl, who will all be appearing at Euro 2004.

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