DiscoursPublié le 7 mai 2025

UEFA Women's EURO 2025: Sustainability at the Summit of Emotions

Zurich, 8 mai 2025 — Discours de la directrice de l’OFSPO Sandra Felix à l’occation de l’UEFA RESPECT Forum à Zurich. Le discours prononcé fait foi.

Thank you, Doris and hello everyone

I am very exited to be here today and share some thoughts with you. What a journey – two years ago, it was just a dream, and now we're just weeks away from kickoff.

Ladies and gentlemen

The 2025 European Women's Football Championship hosted by Switzerland is set to be an inspiring and unforgettable event. This is the first time that Switzerland has organised a comparable international sporting event since the 2008 European Men's Football Championship. It is no less than the largest women's sporting event in Europe. The event is a great opportunity to inspire and foster interest and enthusiasm for doing sport and exercise in all sections of the population. Above all, the Women's EURO 2025 will raise the status and profile of women's football in Switzerland - and women's sport in general - to a new level.

The event can greatly benefit football and sport in general, as well as our country as a whole.

Political support

The Women’s EURO 2025 enjoys strong political support. The Swiss parliament has earmarked 15 million Swiss francs to support EURO 2025. The funds are intended to co-finance sports promotion measures, national communication measures and fare reductions on public transport.

In view of the size of the event, the issue of legacy takes on particular importance. The following parliamentary resolutions send out an important signal regarding the legacy of major sporting events:

• Targeted sports promotion measures are intended to give additional impetus to girls' and women's sport. The aim is to increase the number of girls and young women who are active in sport and to increase the professionalisation of women's football structures.
• The event is also an excellent way to present Switzerland as an attractive destination and welcoming host country. We can demonstrate key values such as openness, equal opportunities and sustainable behaviour. The aim is for domestic and foreign guests to spend their summer holidays in Switzerland and to experience and explore Switzerland in addition to attending and enjoy the tournament – and, hopefully, for them to come back again.
• The combined public transport ticket solution helps to ensure that the event is organised in the most environmentally friendly and sustainable way possible.

These measures will go a long way to raising the status and staging of women's football to a new level, making it more attractive for private investments going forward.

Over the next few years, the strengths of private and public partners can be combined to promote women's football and achieve a long-lasting improvement in structures and programmes.

A legacy for future occasions

Ultimately, this will also benefit future major sporting events, as experience can be used to develop standards for their organisers - particularly with regard to legacy. Major sporting events supported by the federal government must meet high quality standards in sustainability from an economic, social and environmental perspective. And they should place particular emphasis on resource conservation and sustainable organisation and implementation.

An important signal for the sporting world and the public was sent out when the former sports minister, Viola Amherd, signed a human rights declaration for EURO 2025 together with representatives of UEFA, Women's EURO 2025 SA, the Swiss Football Association and the host cities. This declaration commits the partners to diversity, equal opportunities and inclusion in and through sport. The aim is to aspire to, consolidate and communicate values and expectations regarding sustainability, ethics and equal opportunities during the 2025 European Championships.

The tournament will show people in Switzerland and abroad what sport can achieve. This major sporting event will also symbolise a commitment to respecting social and environmental sustainability. With its high level of international attention and appeal, this year's biggest and most important European sporting event provides a communication platform that can help to raise people’s awareness of environmental issues - and of the importance of respect.

EURO 2025 thus creates a legacy and - true to the tournament motto ‹Summit of Emotions› - is more than just a sporting event.

I am sure it will inspire many girls and young women to set ambitious goals, follow their own path, and realize their dreams. Let’s do it!