Football Supporters Europe, Koordinationsstelle Fanprojekt (KOS), and EURO 2024 GmbH co-hosted the milestone UEFA EURO 2024 Fan Forum at the tournament’s HQ in Frankfurt this week. The Fan Forum served as an integral pillar of the Fan Dialogue commitments made to supporters in Germany’s successful bid to host the tournament.
Forum Highlights:
– Fans’ Embassies shared their perspectives to directly influence preparations
– Fan Forum continues delivery of Fan Dialogue commitment for EURO 2024
– Over 100 representatives from stakeholders in attendance
The event was a significant milestone in preparations for the tournament serving as an opportunity to establish communications lines between Fans’ Embassies, qualified National Associations, and a variety of other stakeholders. EURO 2024 sees FSE and Fans’ Embassies directly involved in preparations for the tournament, providing key insights on how to best accommodate supporters from a range of fan cultures who all follow their national teams with their own distinct traditions and routines.
Over 100 attendees participated from various stakeholders including FSE’s Fans’ Embassies network, KOS, local fanprojekte (fan projects), host cities, UEFA, EURO 2024 event management, police from qualified nations, the DFB, the German Interior Ministry, and Deutsche Bahn.
The Fan Forum provided each key hosting stakeholder the opportunity to present to the Fans’ Embassies and qualified National Associations about the essential information they need to assist in a welcoming and smooth visit for travelling fans.
A pivotal feature of the agenda saw Fans’ Embassies, qualified National Associations, and police from qualified nations have dedicated time together with representatives from the host cities where their team will play, alongside the local fanprojekte. This was a unique opportunity to get to know the cities and take onboard local insights ahead of arriving in June, in addition to sharing their plans for supporting fans as they arrive and stay in the cities.
It also gave Fans’ Embassies a formal channel to feed their specific experiences of travelling abroad following their nations into tournament preparations. A similar forum was held in France ahead of EURO 2016, and is a vital asset to assist tournament organisers prepare effectively.
Speaking afterwards, FSE’s National Team Fans’ Coordinator, Jussi Hartikainen, said: “With the tournament only months away now, you cannot put a value on how beneficial an event like this is for preparations from a Fans’ Embassies perspective. To have several stakeholders, whose planning will have an impact on attending fans, all under one roof for three days is essential to providing a good base from which the Fans’ Embassies can begin their own preparations. Connections have been made and core communications lines established that will help in supporting fans and ensure they have access to the information they need once they have arrived in Germany.”
FANS WELCOME (KOS) Project Manager, Philipp Beitzel, added: “The Fan Forum provided a good opportunity to initiate communication early on among all network partners. This ensures that the perspective of the fans who will be coming to Germany for the EURO is integrated into the host cities. We look forward to further exchanges with various stakeholders and are confident in our ability to create optimal conditions for the fans in Germany.”
Next Steps
Following on from the Fan Forum, FSE and the Fans’ Embassies network will take part in site visits to each of their respective group stage host cities ahead of the tournament, supported by EURO 2024 GmbH as well as the KOS and its ‘Fans Welcome’ project.
EURO 2024 will be one of FSE’s leading priorities this year, with a number of projects taking place alongside the coordination of support for the Fans’ Embassies network. FSE will also deliver activities from its Erasmus+ projects at stadia during the tournament, while the Fan.Tastic Finals exhibition will tour EURO 2024’s host cities.