Today, Saturday, the eagerly awaited quarter-final match between France and Germany is scheduled to take place in Basel. A few hours before kick-off, representatives of both teams met on the Mittlere Brücke – a special meeting place during the tournament. There, as part of Klaus Littmann’s art installation ‘Bridge Kick’, they signed one of five oversized footballs.
The temporary installation transforms the bridge into a symbolic meeting place on match days. At 11:30 a.m., artist Klaus Littmann welcomed two delegations together with Sabine Horvath, overall project manager for Host City Basel: On the French side, Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, and Erwan Le Prévost, deputy director general of the French Football Federation, took part. The German delegation was represented by Sabine Mammitzsch, head of the German team delegation, and Ralph-Uwe Schaffert, Vice President of the German Football Association (DFB).
Both sides signed one of the large footballs and left a personal message – a sign of sporting solidarity in the context of today’s quarter-final between France and Germany.
The essence of ‘Bridge Kick’
Artist Klaus Littmann said of the encounter: ‘What a day! Today, representatives of all the countries in the border triangle met on the Mittlere Brücke to sign the fourth ball.’ He adds: ‘The quarter-final between France and Germany is a sporting highlight, no question about it. But the messages left by the teams on these balls always make it clear what really counts: personal exchange and genuine encounters. That is the essence of “Bridge Kick” and it is precisely these values that Basel is actively promoting as a host city for the European Championship.’
The ‘Bridge Kick’ installation with its five footballs symbolises the five matches that will be played at St. Jakob Park in Basel. Swiss international Coumba Sow and Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Association, signed the first ball at the start of the tournament. A week later, before the match between Germany and Denmark, the second ball was signed by Sabine Mammitzsch and Mads Magaard, event manager of the Danish delegation.
The bridge also became a meeting place during the group match between the Netherlands and France: representatives of the French national team – including team manager Jules Wolgust, team doctor Vincent Detaille, press officer Laura Gaudry and physiotherapist Régis Bouyaux – signed another ball together with Gijs de Jong, general secretary of the Dutch Football Association (KNVB), and event manager Daniëlle Göbel.