ARENA FACE for EURO'08 is Erwin Greber from Biberist! The people have spoken, and they've made a clear choice - Erwin Greber has been chosen as the ARENA Face for Switzerland's fifth stadium. Spotted in Solothurn, Erwin has won an all inclusive VIP evening at the UBS ARENA in Biel for the final match and tickets (catering included) to Zurich's famous International Track and Field meeting event in August. Congratulations Erwin! All faces from every arena

  
UBS ARENA LAUSANNE: Thomas Hempler, team captain for the long run.

With a capacity of 11,000 people, 40 some collaborators, and the coordination of at least 10 enterprises, one need not worry how to keep himself busy in a 16 hour day. Thomas Hempler, the big chief at the biggest UBS ARENA, located in Lausanne, has an easy-going way about keeping everything under control. At 44 years old, Hempler already has years of experience organizing and putting on shows, namely at The Théâtre de Carouge, La Comédie de Genève, and at the Théâtre du Grütli, all in Geneva. For that reason, holding the reins on a project of this size didn't scare him away. «A the end of the day, football and theater aren't really that different. Only here I don't have to decorate - but the main difference is that here we have to keep the crowd under control.» Such a large crowd could cause some problems. «Last night (Spain vs Italy), the arena was completely full. There were already 11,000 people inside the arena and another 1000 outside that wanted to get in. With a crowd like that, things can suddenly turn ugly, but thanks to the police who collaborated with our security team, everything went smoothly as planned.» At one o'clock in the morning Thomas is still finishing up the evening's reports with his team; it's the end of a long, hot day. One could easily mistake Thomas for a sailor with his bronze tan, ocean blue eyes, and the build of a longshoreman.  He's got an open, friendly smile and a view over the horizon like a captain navigating into a harbor. But like a ship's captain who has to be focused on the arrival of his ship, Thomas has almost been too busy to follow the games. «I'm somewhat frustrated because I've watched the least games ever for this EURO even though I've been surrounded by the games the whole time!». After his experience at UBS ARENA, Thomas' next project on the horizon is in Avingnon. He will be working with Massimo Furlan on his latest performance. Then he'll be back in Geneva for La Festival de La Bâtie for a whole lot of culture, music, art, theater and more. «I'm not hyperactive», explains this father of 4 boys «these things just come to me, that's all.» What's his opinion on the premiere season of the UBS ARENA? « Above all, I have had the wonderful experience of meeting so many great people. If you asked me to do it again I would say yes, but not 5 times a year!"

Switzerland's fifth stadium in images - The fifth stadium in images - 16 arenas, 16 unique sites, 16 special environments, 16 exceptional locations, all of which have set the stage for the excitement, disappointment, and the glory of the EURO'08. A real melting pot of languages, cultures, and walks of life coming together at the UBS ARENA to create Switzerland's fifth stadium. The EURO is soon coming to an end - let's hope you keep the good memories with you for years to come. Here are some of the best moments captured at the UBS ARENA for this year's EURO'08. Photo Gallery

 
UBS ARENA in South Africa for 2010?
A special delegation from South Africa has been here to snoop around, listen, and learn about the ways that Switzerland has made this year's event a success. And with good reason, South Africa will be the proud host of the first ever World cup tournament on the African continent in 2010. Because they have never played host to such a big event before, they are happy to get all the inside know-how that they can. The South African embassy in Bern has helped to organize visits for a wide-spanning organizational team to different places all over Switzerland. They've come to be inspired, to get tips and good advice from the people that have made this year's event possible. The UBS ARENA was a popular favorite for the delegation to spend their time at. They made the tour to some of the most well known cities in Switzerland- Solothurn, Biel, Zug, and Thun. The security team from Africa were especially impressed that the arenas only need 20 security guards on each site. Other main focuses were the traffic logistics, infrastructure, and even the power consumption allocated for the EURO'08 in Switzerland. They gave a lot of compliments and positive feedback about the EURO and the UBS ARENA organization, There have even been some questions about whether we'd like to collaborate with the main sponsor in South Africa for a similar public viewing project in 2010....We wish South Africa a wonderful fun-filled and safe event in 2010!

Right to Play with Switzerland's best athletes at the UBS ARENA- Vreni Schneider is a household name in Switzerland, well known as a three time Olympic gold medalist in Women's alpine skiing. Now that she isn't competing anymore, she has gotten involved in a very worthwhile cause that allows her to combine her love of sports and helping people out. Right To Play is an international humanitarian organization that uses sports and play programs to improve health, develop life skills, and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas ofthe world. Working in both the humanitarian and development context, Right To Play trains local community leaders as Coaches to deliver their programs in more than 20 countries affected by war, poverty, and disease in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. UBS ARENA has been proud to provide a platform for Right To Play through some of Switzerland's most outstanding alpine skiers and Right To Play ambassadors Vreni Schneider, MarcoBüchel and Sonja Nef. More information at: http://www.righttoplay.com/site/PageServer

Fans gallery 

Pictures of the day from Locarno...

...Kreuzlingen

...and Nyon! 

Music to get you going in Lausanne and Biel - Biel's local band Illeist collective will be on stage tonight at the UBS ARENA. Their unique sound lies somewhere between progressive drum'n'bass and soul flavored trip-hop. You won't want to miss it - this music makes you want to get up and dance! Swiss DJ Philip Morax will be performing live in Lausanne at Switzerland's biggest UBS ARENA. His music is featured on the UBS ARENA compilation CD „CLUB ARENA" which by the way is at number 9 on the Swiss hit-parade list.

German news team in Kreuzlingen - German news station SWRhas set up camp on the Lake of Constance in Kreuzlingen. No, they're notliterally camping but they have been stationed there for the duration of theEURO'08 games up until now. There has been a live broadcast everyday from theUBS ARENA and they were just beginning to feel at home there. "We wanted to beat one of the lake locations, and as near to Germany as possible" said EberhardFrohnmeyer, the editorial journalist on site. The location being ideal forThursday nights' Germany-Portugal match in which Germany beat Portugal 3 to 2to go on to the semi-finals. Frohnmeyer added, "The ambience in the arena wasfantastic, thousands of Germans came here to the UBS ARENA to support the team.28 men and women make up their TV crew, and most of them would prefer to staythere. "Oh no, I don't want to go to Basel, it's so much nicer here" said oneSWR cameraman. Actually, I don't know of one city in Switzerland that isn'tbeautiful in one way or another, and Basel is no exception - only they've got abig river instead of a lake.

LAUSANNE, the 17th of June: "Zurich - Paris, one way " - The UBS ARENA in Lausanne was filled with a sea of blue yesterday, the color of azure - sky blue.....almost nothing but that color. It was the distinct touches of red or green on people's hats or shirts that marked the difference between the fans.The arena was brimming with fans who came out to watch Italy and France, the two football archenemies, clash in the race to get to the quarter-finals. It's safe to presume that the real prize in sight was already the golden championship cup. The shrieks, shouts, songs and clapping made for a clamorous and vibrant evening at the arena. The swearwords in two languages directed at the screen floated through the arena and out into the night sky. 1 to 0 for Italy - The French fans' tortellini-filled stomachs suddenly began to turn, making them feel nauseous and ill. And it was destined to get worse after Italy scored a second goal and the Italian's ticket to the quarter-finals was pretty much taken care of. Unfortunately for the French, they will only be needing a one-way ticket - back to France and back to the drawing board for the team called „Les bleus". See the crowd during the first italian goal

JohnFelix McEnroe in Locarno - Usually it's women who complain about their weight, but Melanie S. on site in Locarno is a witness to that fact that sometimes men are just as body conscious as women. Felix B., the tireless managing director of Perron8 had been heard complaining that he's got to watch his weight because he's been missing out on his usual jog recently. So, it was very welcome when Sandro from the technical team offered to help him out by challenging Felix B. to a tennis match. The phone rang at 8:30 in the morning - „Why so early?" asked Felix, picking up the phone half-asleep. He tried to move the time up a little - „What about around 11:00?" Sandro didn't really agree, but together they finally decided to play at a later time anyway, they only had to get a hold of a Wilson tennis racket for Felix and they'd be all set to play. But before they got their game on, Felix B. was seen warming up (at least mentally) for the big match, practicing his swing, hopping around, wiping off the non-existent beads of sweat from his forehead and all of this in the hospitality zone, might I add. He couldn't show up unprepared; after all, John McEnroe is his favorite tennis role model. The former number one player is known the "enfant terrible" of the tennis world.....Good luck Sandro.

Tonight will be one macho match - Tonight's match is sure to entertain. It could be a possibility for France to get revenge on the Italian team for the dramatic victory won by Italy at the World cup games of 2006, or maybe not...anything is possible! Come join us for the fun and see what happens next. Your nearest UBS ARENA is ready to accommodate all of your football viewing needs. Covered seating, tasty food and drinks, and a fantastic atmosphere are all waiting for you. The game starts at 20:45, and the arena will be open at 18:00. There is no cover charge for the standing areas and covered seats are only 11 Francs. Wednesday will be the shootout between Russia and Sweden for the advancement to the quarter-finals....stay tuned.....

Strange beds and things that go bump in the night - Night after night the ARENA TV crew sleeps in another bed while on the road. Everyday they move on to another city, taking down the set and building it up again. They make sure that the show is a success, and then once the cameras stop rolling; they break down the set all over again. The crew couldn't be happier when they're lucky enough to have a hotel just around the corner from the arena instead of all the way across town.

On the ninth night of the tour, in Kreuzlingen on the Bodensee, that was just the case. The Bodensee-Arena has just about everything - A fan mile (festival zone) the UBS ARENA, and a hotel right around the corner. And so after a long and rainy day with an arena filled to the brim with 5,200 people, it was a real treat to be able to just walk down the street to the corner hotel and just fall into bed. Even the rooms have really relaxing sounding titles such as the harmony room and the romantic room, but once you close the door it is anything but tranquil. Being so close to the arena gives one surround sound effects from the DJ spinning his thumping sounds right around the corner. Even though most of the crowd had already gone home, the DJ from Radio Seefunk was giving it his all...but hopefully not for the entire night...