International sporting events in Switzerland

Staging major international events is important both for Swiss sport and for cultivating relations with other countries and promoting Switzerland’s public image. For one thing, sporting successes achieved by teams and individual athletes are also recognised beyond Switzerland’s borders and help to raise the profile of Swiss sport. For another, proving time and again that it can successfully host sporting events can also enhance Switzerland’s image abroad. Moreover, these major events are seen to provide an incentive for young, up-and-coming athletes.
In order to hold major international events in Switzerland, there are a number of aspects of public life that must be taken into consideration, with solutions needing to be found on various political levels. These include matters relating to transport, safety and security, sustainability, infrastructure, marketing, foreign policy and society.
Major sporting events such as the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, the 2009 IIHF World Championships (ice hockey) and the 2014 European Athletics Championships have shown that such occasions have a far-reaching and long-lasting impact in Switzerland – not just in sport, but economically and politically too.
The EURO 2008 football tournament is the biggest sporting event to have been held in Switzerland to date, generating revenue of 1,726 million Swiss francs. Switzerland has also twice hosted the Olympic Games, with both the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics taking place in St. Moritz.
In addition to these championship contests staged by international sports federations, Switzerland has established itself as a host for various other annual competitions. In athletics, for example, both the Weltklasse Zürich and Athletissima Lausanne meetings form part of the global IAAF Diamond League series. Meanwhile, tennis is showcased every year at the Swiss Indoors Basel, Swiss Open Gstaad and Geneva Open tournaments. The Tour de Suisse is the world’s fourth largest stage race for cyclists and a key fixture on the UCI World Tour. In skiing, the World Cup events in Adelboden, the Lauberhorn ski races, the Davos Nordic World Cup competition, the World Cup ski jumping contests in Engelberg and the Engadin Skimarathon have become particularly well-established on the international scene. Furthermore, the Badminton Swiss Open, the Beach Volleyball Gstaad Major, the CHI Geneva and the CSIO Switzerland in St. Gallen (both show-jumping), the PGA golf tournament in Crans-Montana and the Lucerne Regatta are also ranked amongst the world’s foremost series events in sport.