Fractured Germany in desperate need of a clear strategy before Euro 2024

Kick-off is 100 days away but problems on and off the pitch lurk for a host country keen to recreate the magic of 2006

- JonathanLiew

The greatest myth Germany ever sold the world was its own Virtually efficiency everything here closes on a Sunday. Most small shops only accept cash.

Companies still communicate by fax. Even the simplest administrative tasks drown in the weight of their own absurd bureaucracy. When I was finally granted German residency - a process that took almost a year, required four appointments with various government agencies and the services of a notary - I was informed, by post, that I could access my permit online by downloading an app. The instructions for downloading the app arrived several weeks later, also by post. The app did not work.

So it was with a certain grim recognition that I noted the recent comments of the Euro 2024 organisers, publicly criticising the bureaucratic inefficiencies of the host nation.

"If we have specific questions, Berlin refers us to the federal states," said Uefa's Mex Schär, the tournament's managing director.

"If we ask there, we are referred to the federal government. We need clear guidelines and commitment." His co-managing director, Markus Stenger, added: "We have an incredible opportunity. You can't feel this enthusiasm politically." On the face of things, Euro 2024 this summer feels like an easy sell.

The first European Championship in a unified Germany. A nation with football hooked to its veins, with a track record of hosting big events, with pretty much all the stadiums and infrastructure already built. And set against the iniquities of Russia 2018, Plagueland 2021, Qatar 2022 and USA/Canada/Mexico 2026, perhaps Germany 2024 can even serve as a kind of palate cleanser, the antidote to a decade of weird, stitched-together tournaments.