Introduction

The UEFA European Football Championship is one of the world's biggest sporting events. The first proper championship match was held on 28 September 1958 in Moscow's Central Stadium, marking the beginning of the 22 month-long inaugural competition that lasted until 1960 (N.N., 2008c), which let the idea of Henri Delaunay, the first general secretary of UEFA, become a reality (ibid., 8). The EURO 2008 did not only represent an outstanding sport event and a major event for the society in Switzerland, it was also the largest and most important sports event ever organized in Switzerland (ibid., 12). It was the 13

th

final tournament of the UEFA European Football Championship (EURO) and only the 2

nd

final round (after Belgium/Netherland in 2000) jointly hosted by two countries (ibid., 10).