Berne plans to give the Netherlands some of the Stade de Suisse turf as a gesture of thanks for the fantastic atmosphere around the team's three Euro 2008 group matches in the Swiss capital, the mayor said on Friday. An estimated 50,000 Dutch supporters flooded in for each game, turning the city center orange and encouraging locals to join the party. The Stade de Suisse turf is being replaced by its normal artificial surface and Mayor Alexander Tschaeppaet said the city wanted to donate parts of it to the Netherlands, coach Marco van Basten or whoever wanted some. “We want people to retain some memories from the stadium and this wonderful time,” Tschaeppaet said in a telephone interview. “The people here are very sad now as it's so quiet.” Dutch fans also took out full-page advertisements in Berne's two main newspapers to thank the city for its hospitality, he said. The lively and the rich Euro 2008 organizers in the Swiss city of Basel said they were preparing for two contrasting sets of supporters ahead of Saturday's quarterfinal between the Netherlands and Russia. Basel, which host Thursday's tie between Germany and Portugal and will host the first semifinal next Wednesday, has been busy building additional fanzones and camping places for tens of thousands of boisterous Dutch fans. But organizers said the city was ill-equipped to cope with Russian supporters with more expensive tastes. “The idea of wealthy Russian fans demanding top end accommodation might sound like a cliche but experience from the Austrian host cities tells us it is true,” Basel tournament coordinator Hanspeter Weisshaupt told Reuters. “The trouble is we only have three or four really top class hotels in Basel and those are already fully booked. Up to 100,000 Dutch supporters are expected, based on similar numbers that followed the team's three group stage games in the capital Berne. With Basel only having a population of around 180,000, Weisshaupt acknowledged the city would be nowhere near capable of accommodating them. Ticket touts happy Euro 2008 has been a fantastic success, according to the touts who have made hefty profits by ignoring UEFA rules on the resale of match tickets. Touts have been highly visible at the train stations and town centers of the eight Swiss and Austrian host cities, openly buying and selling tickets despite warnings from organisers UEFA of a crackdown against black-market sales. “I came over specifically from the States to do this,” said one American tout offering semifinal tickets with a face value of 180 euros ($280) for 1,400 euros. The tout, who would not give his name, was one of at least 50 men standing in Basel's main train station with signs around their necks offering to buy or sell tickets.
