To person
Nadine Keßler, 36, is responsible for women’s football as director at the European Football Union (UEFA). As a player, the Palatinate native won the European Championship title with the German national team in 2013. In 2014 she was named world footballer, but in 2016 she had to end her career due to persistent knee problems.
ZDFheute: The next European Championship will conveniently take place in Switzerland, where UEFA is based. Will it be the first women’s tournament to make a profit?
Nadine Keßler: We will not make any money with this EM either, but will consciously continue our investments. It will be the same conditions for the women as at a men’s European Championship because we are putting an exclamation mark on the standards. We want to reach 500 million TV viewers. You should just reach for the stars. It would be great news if we sold out every location. Not just the host’s games and the final in Basel. Personally, that is more important to me than the break-even point. This tournament will be bigger than the European Championships in England. This is the biggest sporting event Switzerland has ever had!
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ZDFheute: Can Switzerland really trump England with a packed Wembley for the 2022 final?
Kessler: We have the same number of tickets available and have already sold more than 205,000 tickets in the first sales phase. 26 percent of them are foreign fans. The orders came from 90 countries, the fifth most from the USA, followed by Australia. It makes us happy that people now come from all over the world. We will have the most sponsors in the history of UEFA for a European Championship – in terms of both women and men. The interest is huge.
ZDFheute: The Swiss are generally considered to be a bit reserved. Will he be freaked out for this event?
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Kessler: Don’t underestimate the Swiss! The fans were already sensational at the men’s European Championships in Germany. I have high hopes that the unbeatably low ticket prices (40 and 25 francs in the preliminary round, editor’s note) will really attract a lot of fans, who can also travel by train for free.
ZDFheute: The mode with 16 teams seems like a contrast to the many bloated men’s competitions.
Kessler: It’s a great format and it will be very close in terms of sport. The Nations League also showed that many things have become unpredictable. The European Championships in England three years ago proved that the quality of women’s football has increased.
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ZDFheute: UEFA has therefore launched the “Unstoppable” strategy, which promises to spend one billion euros on women’s football by 2030.
Kessler: These are funds that we allocate to women’s football from our income from the entire competitions and also additional investments from men’s football for development and support projects. Of course, the aim of the strategy is to finally make women’s football more sustainable in the future with less cross-subsidization from men’s football.
ZDFheute: Will the men’s Club World Cup being held at the same time by the world association FIFA disrupt the women’s European Championship?
Kessler: The Club World Cup can play. We will carry out everything as it has been planned for a long time with everyone involved, our sponsors and television stations. There will be five or six overlaps in transmissions, but I’m not worried about that. I don’t think it has a negative effect. Getting full exclusivity is not so easy today. I think we made a great deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to make the tournament even more visible in Europe.
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ZDFheute: The fact that the tournament is obviously attractive is shown by the great interest in the 2029 European Championship. Germany has also thrown its hat into the ring, but the competition is quite strong with Italy, Denmark and Sweden having a joint application, as well as Portugal and Poland.
Kessler: It is sensational that so many countries are applying. We are really pleased that not only established women’s football nations want to be hosts. This will be a hot competition, which the UEFA Executive Committee will decide in a year based on the bid documents where it is strategically best to host the 2029 European Championship.
The interview was conducted by Frank Hellmann.
Everything you need to know before the draw
Pot 1: Switzerland (seeded Group A), Spain, Germany, France
Pot 2: Italy, Iceland, Denmark, England
Pot 3: Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Belgium
Pot 4: Finland, Poland, Portugal, Wales
The schedule will be published on the same day after the draw. Kick-off times for all games are either 6pm or 9pm CEST. The broadcast rights lie with ARD and ZDF.
The following venues have been selected:
St. Jakob Park, Basel (34,050 seats)
Wankdorf Stadium, Bern (29,650)
Stade de Geneva, Geneva (28,150)
Letzigrund Stadium, Zurich (23,150)
Arena St. Gallen, St. Gallen (16.100)
Allmend Stadium Lucerne, Lucerne (14,550)
Arena Thun, Thun (8150)
Stade de Tourbillon, Sion (8150)
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What: Reuters
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