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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:09 a.m., Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Soccer: UEFA earns record sum from Euro 2008

Associated Press

ZURICH, Switzerland — UEFA earned a record $394 million from the 2008 European Championship.

European football's governing body said that is an increase of $42 million from Euro 2004, and would be enough to pay for its youth and women's competitions until 2012 as well as refereeing and coaching programs.

The remainder will be distributed among UEFA's 53 members and toward administrative costs.

UEFA said turnover during the three-week tournament in Austria and Switzerland was $2.04 billion, with more than half the money coming from the sale of broadcasting rights.

At least 155 million people watched each of the 31 matches live on television, UEFA said.

The cost of organizing the event grew from $492 million in 2004 to $943 million.

UEFA also presented figures on the number of security personnel employed for Euro 2008 (10,000) and the number of match-ticket holders who benefited from free train travel in Austria and Switzerland (4.4 million).

"It would be fair to say that, from an organizational perspective, we have greatly progressed and improved in almost all areas," Euro 2008 chief operating officer Martin Kallen said in a statement.