In the photo, SFZ president Ján Kováčik during a press conference Source: TASR/Jakub Kotian
BRATISLAVA – Representatives of the Slovak Football Association have completed their third visit to members of the European Football Union.
It was carried out as part of the investigation of the state of preparations before the <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/06/uefa-nations-league-patrick-schick-monchis-thorn-in-the-side/" title="UEFA Nations League: Patrick Schick, Monchi's thorn in the side”>Under-21 European Championship, which will take place in Slovakia next year from June 11 to 28. The tournament already knows 13 participants, three more will be added after the play-off duels. Fans can now prepare to buy tickets, pre-sale will start next week.
It was already the third visit from four by UEFA. The head of the organizing committee, Mária Berdisová, said that it turned out excellent.
This visit was crucial
“It was focused on several areas, the organization of the event, for the first time also on logistics, there was security both within the stadium and in the adjacent areas near the stadium and in its premises. Of course, the infrastructure was also looked at, i.e. the fulfillment of infrastructure criteria.
We dealt with catering services, not only for VIP hospitality, but also for participants and event organizers in general, and we dealt with TV broadcasts, media spaces and even ticketing. This visit was key in that it basically sealed what was going to happen and how, we already know what will be happening in which room, what the sequence will be, what the flow of people will be, etc.
We have one last one waiting for us, it will be in March, but there are only a few open points left and it’s just a really final visit, the key things were solved at this third one.”
For the first time since the transition to a 16-man final tournament model, the European Championship will take place in only one country.
In addition to Slovakia, England, Italy, France, Germany, Slovenia, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Spain and Romania took part in it. In the playoff, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Finland, Georgia, Croatia and Norway will fight for the remaining three places.
It will be played in eight stadiums. The reconstruction of the arena in Prešov is in the final phase, all other stadiums are ready for the tournament.
D-group matches will be played in Prešov and Košice, A-group will be played in Bratislava and Trnava, B-group in Nitra and Dunajská Streda and C-group in Žilina and Trenčín.
Photo gallery (11) Pictured from the left are Lukáš Donoval from the organizing committee of the European Under-21 Championships, SFZ general secretary Peter Palenčík, SFZ president Ján Kováčik and member of the SFZ executive committee Mária Berdisová during a press conference Source: TASR/Jakub Kotian
On Wednesday, the organizers presented other news and launched marketing activities. The positive news for fans is the final price for tickets.
“The 1st category match will cost 15 euros, the 2nd category match will cost 12 euros. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will cost 16 and 20 euros, and the final 20 and 25 euros. We made an analysis of how much money people would be willing to pay give and we stuck hard to her results.
Discounts are also interesting, children under 15 have a half-price ticket and we have also prepared interesting packages. We stuck to the motto that football is for everyone and a family of four with two children under the age of 15 will pay 36 euros for a match. That’s less than if they went to the cinema and they also have cheaper popcorn.” said the marketing manager of the tournament Lukáš Donoval.
Fans can secure tickets from October 22, but only registered users can participate in the pre-sale. Only on October 29 will the sale start for the rest. It will take about a month.
The group draw will take place on December 3, so far only the dates of the SR matches are known. At the previous tournament in Romania and Georgia, attendance was 320,000, which the Slovaks would like to surpass.
“Our capacity is 375,000. We have the prerequisites to surpass the previous attendance. We are happy that our neighbors also qualified and some are still fighting in the playoffs. I believe that the Czechs will succeed, they are close to us and came would be in abundance,” said SFZ general secretary Peter Palenčík.
In addition to spectators in the stadium, the championship will also be watched by spectators on television screens. The head of the union, Ján Kováčik, wants their number to exceed the 100 million mark.
“It is the biggest sports event in Slovakia in 2025, one of the biggest that we have organized in our country. It is the third biggest tournament organized by UEFA and that is what makes it special. And it is also in the fact that for the third time the tournament will have 16 participants and for the first time it will be held in one country with this number of teams.”
Photo gallery for the article Number of photos: 11
- Author: © List/
- VIDEO: TASR/Martina Kriková, Slovak Football Association
- Source: TASR
