A new trophy will be awarded to the winners of the Euro 2008 tournament. The new version of the [[Henri Delaunay]] Trophy, created by ''Asprey London''<ref>[http://www.uefa.com/competitions/EURO/news/Kind=1/newsId=387580.html New trophy announced at UEFA site]</ref>, is almost an exact replica of the original designed by [[Arthus-Bertrand]], though not quite. A small figure juggling a ball on the back of the original has been removed, as has the marble plinth. The silver base of the trophy also had to be enlarged to make it stable. The names of the winning countries that had appeared on the plinth have now been engraved on the back of the trophy, which is made of [[sterling silver]], weighs 8 kilograms and is 60 centimeters tall.
[[Image:Football_European_Cup.svg|thumb|100 px|New version of the Henri Delaunay Trophy]]
A new trophy will be awarded to the winners of the Euro 2008 tournament.
The new version of the [[Henri Delaunay]] Trophy, created by ''Asprey London''<ref>[http://www.uefa.com/competitions/EURO/news/Kind=1/newsId=387580.html New trophy announced at UEFA site]</ref>, is almost an exact replica of the original designed by [[Arthus-Bertrand]], though not quite. A small figure juggling a ball on the back of the original has been removed, as has the marble plinth. The silver base of the trophy also had to be enlarged to make it stable. The names of the winning countries that had appeared on the plinth have now been engraved on the back of the trophy, which is made of [[sterling silver]], weighs 8 kilograms and is 60 centimeters tall.
A total of 16 teams will participate in the tournament. Austria and Switzerland will automatically qualify as hosts; The remaining 14 teams have been determined through qualifying matches which started in August 2006. Austria and Poland will be making their first appearance in the tournament. The winner of Euro 2008 will represent the UEFA at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Turkey, and Hungary were recommended before the final vote. Greece and Turkey were rejected and let Hungary and Austria/Switzerland battle for the win.
Venues
Switzerland will play all of its group-stage matches at Basel, and Austria will play all of its group-stage matches at Vienna.
In 2004, the Zürich venue became a problem for the organisers. Originally, the Hardturm stadium was to be renovated and used as the city's venue, but legal challenges delayed the plan to a point that would not have allowed the ground to be used in 2008. This created a problem, as the agreement between UEFA and the organizers stipulated that four venues would be used in each country. The problem was solved when the organizers proposed renovating Letzigrund instead; UEFA approved the revised plan in January 2005. The Letzigrund stadium hosted its first football match on 23 September2007. [1]
A new trophy will be awarded to the winners of the Euro 2008 tournament. The new version of the Henri Delaunay Trophy, created by Asprey London[2], is almost an exact replica of the original designed by Arthus-Bertrand, though not quite. A small figure juggling a ball on the back of the original has been removed, as has the marble plinth. The silver base of the trophy also had to be enlarged to make it stable. The names of the winning countries that had appeared on the plinth have now been engraved on the back of the trophy, which is made of sterling silver, weighs 8 kilograms and is 60 centimeters tall.
The draw for the qualifying round took place in Montreux, Switzerland on 27 January, 2006 at 12:00 CET.
The qualifying process commenced a month after the 2006 World Cup. Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified for the tournament finals as host nations.
The qualifying format was changed compared to previous tournaments. The winners and runners-up from seven groups automatically qualified for the Championship, with the hosts filling the other two slots in the 16-team tournament. The change means there were no play-offs between teams finishing in second place in the groups - they qualified directly for the finals. Teams that finished in third place didn't have any further opportunity to qualify. Six of the qualifying groups contained seven teams, and the other, Group A, contained eight.
The draw for the final tournament is scheduled for December 22007. In a return to the format used at Euro 92 and Euro 96 the games in each group will be held at just two stadia, with the seeded team remaining in the same city for all three matches. As was the case at the 2000 and 2004 finals, the finalists will be divided into 4 seeding pots, based on average points per game in the qualifying phases of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2008, with each group having one team from each pot. Switzerland and Austria, as co-hosts, and Greece, as defending champions, are seeded first automatically.[3][4] The Netherlands are seeded based on their UEFA coefficient in the Euro 2008 finalists ranking.
The slogan for UEFA Euro 2008 was chosen on 24 January2007: Expect Emotions.
The UEFA Chief-Executive Lars-Christer Olsson stated "It describes in a nutshell what the UEFA Euro 2008 has to offer: all kinds of emotions — joy, disappointment, relief or high tension — right up to the final whistle."[5]
Mascots
File:Trix and Flix.jpgTrix and Flix, the official mascots for the UEFA Euro 2008 competition
The two official mascots for UEFA Euro 2008, were named after a vote from the public of the two host nations, the options were:
Zagi and Zigi
Flitz and Bitz
Trix and Flix
After receiving 36.3% of the vote, Trix and Flix were chosen. "I am sure the mascots and their names will become a vital part of the understanding of the whole event," said Christian Mutschler, who is the tournament director for Switzerland. [6]
Many of the worlds national broadcasters have secured broadcasting rights of the tournament, as of September 24, 2007.[7]See UEFA Euro 2008 Broadcasting rights for a complete list.
Austria
Switzerland
Poland
Portugal
Italy
France
Greece
Turkey
Czech Republic
Germany
Croatia
Russia
Spain
Sweden
Romania
Netherlands
