There are clear winners and losers emerging as Swiss cities and traders seek to profit from the business of co-hosting the European Championship.

Bern will set up a third giant TV screen to cope with an expected invasion of Dutch football fans later this week.

Around 25,000 people turned the federal parliament square in Switzerland’s capital into a joyous sea of orange Monday evening to watch a free public screening of the Netherlands beating Italy 3-0 at the nearby Stade de Suisse. A second broadcast in the city’s Waisenhausplatz was also packed.

Bern mayor Alexander Tschaeppaet said Wednesday that various options had been looked at to welcome the arrival of even more Dutch supporters for Friday’s game against France.

Tens of thousands of people with almost no chance of getting into the stadium are expected to descend on Bern in the hope of being part of the tournament fervour.

This is exactly what Swiss authorities were hoping for after seeing the success of public viewings in fan zones at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

City officials said they will decide Thursday where in the city centre to place the third 54 square-metre screen.

While Bern copes with Euro 2008 demand that is bigger than expected, businesses at the official camp site in Geneva say they are struggling.

Food-stall holders were meeting Wednesday to decide whether to go on strike because the promised crowds have not shown up to see matches broadcast on a big screen and free nightly concerts.

hey say they paid 36,000 Swiss francs (C$35,000) to take a restaurant pitch for three weeks at the official Fan Village, and were told by organizers to expect 20,000 visitors each day.

“If I had known, I would never have taken part,” Ma Bei, owner of a Chinese food stand, told Le Temps newspaper. “For me, it is better to close than to open and throw the food out of the window.”

Persistent rain at the campsite - known locally as Bout-du-Monde, or end of the world - has turned parts of the grounds next to the river Arve into a muddy mess.

The mood was not helped when two Polish visitors short-circuited the campsite electric supply while trying to recharge a camera.

The Geneva production company responsible for soccer-related shows has promised more publicity for the fan village, which is serviced by free shuttle buses from the 60,000-capacity fan zone closer to the city centre, and to install children’s entertainment to attract families.

In the picturesque city of Locarno near the Swiss-Italian border, traders say their usual customers are staying away during the football tournament.

Spokesman Bruno Arienti said football fans were not interested in shopping and the business situation was “almost catastrophic.”

Crowd numbers have been below capacity for public broadcasts in Locarno and 15 other medium-sized cities and towns across Switzerland - the country’s so-called “fifth stadium” after the four cities staging matches.

The arenas, sponsored by a bank and with mostly free entry, have a total capacity of 90,000 but were two-thirds full for Switzerland’s opening game on Saturday.

Seats in the covered grandstands at nine of the 16 venues have sold out for Wednesday evening, when Switzerland country plays Turkey in a match it realistically has to win to stay in the tournament.

Reinhard Tritscher, the director of the opening ceremony in the UEFA EURO 2008 Fan Zone in Salzburg, has revealed his programme for the event on Saturday.

Diverse programme
Some 350 local artists will perform in the Fan Zone in the city’s old town between 15.00 and 17.00CET on 7 June, with the event featuring an attractive and diverse side programme which incorporates folk culture to classical music to Balkan pop and jazz. In addition, the national anthems of the four teams who will play in Salzburg – Spain, Greece, Russia and Sweden – will be performed.

‘Anticipation and welcome’
"The opening of the Fan Zone at Salzburg’s Residenz Platz represents both anticipation and welcome, and the focus will be interacting with the people of other European countries," said Tritscher. An hour after the opening ceremony, the Fan Zone will experience another highlight with the live broadcast of the opening match of the final tournament between co-hosts Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Thousands of Portuguese fans flooded the lakeside city of Neuchatel on Sunday to welcome their national team for this month’s European Championship.

Officials said some 5,000 fans waved flags and chanted loudly as the bus carrying Cristiano Ronaldo and teammates arrived at the team’s hotel Sunday night.

About 10,000 people were in the city to greet the Portuguese players as the squad begins the final stage of its preparations.

“It’s a great chance we have to see them near us,” said 24-year-old Ana Bela Ramos, a Portuguese fan from Fribourg, near Neuchatel. “We came here to give them our support and hopefully that will motivate them even more.”

Portugal will be based in Neuchatel at least until the semifinals. The team opens Saturday against Turkey in Geneva seeking to reach its second consecutive final.

Upon arriving, players and coaches waved from one of the hotel’s balconies, delighting the fans who waited on the streets for several hours.

Several hundred fans followed the team’s bus from Geneva to Neuchatel on motorcycles and paraded through the city’s main avenue afterward.

“This was awesome,” said 19-year-old fan Liliana Carvalho. “It was great to see the players waving from the bus to us. I’m disappointed I didn’t see Cristiano, but that’s OK, I saw the other players.”

Dozens of Portuguese flags were hanging from hotel and apartment balconies across the city of 40,000 people, and several hundred fans in Portuguese jerseys were near the team’s hotel by the Lake of Neuchatel, occasionally chanting “Portugal, Portugal.”

Fans honked horns and yelled as they drove by, and even dogs could be seen dressed in Portugal’s national colors — red, green and yellow.

“This is fun,” said 7-year-old Denis Meira as he tried to peek through the fences outside the team’s hotel. “Hopefully I’ll get to see them.”

It will not be too easy for Meira and other fans trying to get a glimpse of their idols, though. Security was increased throughout the city and the squad is expected to be mostly isolated from fans. City official Stephanie Wildhaber said officers from several nearby cities were summoned to help while the Portugal national team is in the city.

Some of the team’s practice sessions during the week will be open for fans, however.

“I got tickets and I’ll get to watch them,” said 43-year-old Oliveira de Paiva Antonio, a Portuguese who lives in Neuchatel. “It’s incredible, the city is completely different with so many people here. It’s very agitated, we have to enjoy it.”

Portugal’s first sessions at the city’s local stadium are scheduled to begin Monday.

The team arrives boosted by a 2-0 win over Georgia in Viseu on Saturday in its final warm-up game before the competition begins.