June – July 1997 – N°26 – Cities – ENGLISH

	How is football viewed in Toulouse, where the rugby ball holds such sway?

Both sports have their place in our city. Fans of Toulouse Football Club very often show up to cheer on the rugby team and vice versa. And let’s not forget that Toulouse Football Club, newly promoted to the French Premiership this season, belongs not just to the city, but to the Midi-Pyrénées region as a whole. Also, if we remember back to 1938, the year France hosted its first World Cup competition, Toulouse was the stage for two matches in that tournament. So 1998 is really the sequel!

In order to host games in the World Cup, the Stade Municipal is currently undergoing a considerable facelift. What does this involve, mainly?

The Stade Municipal, inaugurated in 1949, had a capacity of 34,000, including 10% with reduced visibility. As of January 1998, the capacity will increase to 37,000 all seated, with perfect visibility. Other new features include 500 hospitality box seats, a convertible press balcony with adjoining offices, and a circular television gangway making camera shots possible from all over the stadium. The professional players’ dressing rooms, the media area, the TFC offices and the club-company hospitality boxes and salons will all be brought together in a new lay-out in the north stand. The stadium is to be entirely re-covered with a new metallo-textile roof, meaning that all pillars in the stands will go, and there’ll be no more shadow on the pitch. New rows of seats are to be installed in a balcony above the north stand. Lighting capacity is to be increased threefold, a new sound system put in place and new video monitoring equipment installed around the stadium.

What aspects of life in Toulouse are you hoping will go down well with the thousands of visitors expected during the World Cup?

The city of Toulouse has decided to make a warm welcome the heart of the event, which will show off the cheery and hospitable spirit of the people here as well as the quality of life in Toulouse. So we shall be bringing out guide brochures in four languages (French, English, Spanish and German), which are also slated for translation into the languages of the countries playing their matches at Toulouse. The brochures will include everything visitors need to know during their stay (a city map, match dates and times, an entertainment programme, transport information and a description of Toulouse and the surrounding region).

A non-stop entertainment and party area is to be set up on the Prairie des Filtres on the banks of the Garonne river. Visitors will be able to go there to pick up information, sample the local cuisine and shop for local products. It’ll also be a pick-up point for river shuttles to and from the stadium. And there’ll be more information “outposts” at the airport, railway stations, on the motorways and in the city centre. For one and all, the World Cup in Toulouse can be summed up in a single word: celebration. A celebration of football, naturally, including special events like inter-district tournaments. A celebration of culture, with lots of music, exhibitions and guided tours of historical landmarks. Celebrations in the street, including parades and shows; celebrations too, at the city’s very heart, the river Garonne, which is to provide the backdrop for the festivities as well as being an important means of transport. In short, people here love celebrating and do it brilliantly! So this will be a great party – in the authentic Toulouse style.