With kick-off 100 days away, the country wants to recreate the unifying joy of 2006 – but problems lurk on and off the pitch
The greatest myth Germany ever sold the world was its own efficiency. Virtually 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.