THE SWISS papers have been carrying more and more pictures of Irish billboard advertisements urging a vote one way or another in today's referendum along with stories on how yet another manifestation of the "European project" may be about to bite the dust.

Here, the billboards are full of only one thing, almost every advertisement you see having a Euro 2008 angle to it although few if any feature the Swiss team, their manager or star players.

Expectations for the team were never high, and while the nation has been engrossed first by the story of manager Köbi Kuhn soldiering on while his wife lies in an intensive-care ward following an epileptic fit that might have killed her and then by the anguish suffered by Alex Frei as a result of the injury he sustained in the opening game, they have been philosophical, a little too much so perhaps, regarding events on the pitch.

Certainly the opening days of the tournament have lacked anything like the sense of collective fervour that gripped both Portugal and Germany, where the host teams were also potential winners that commanded fanatical levels of support.

In Switzerland, things have all been a little more reasoned. The tournament's advocates say it makes good economic sense with the total turnover expected to approach €2 billion and the anticipated spending of visitors from abroad over its duration alone, broadly equal to the €270 million or so spent by the Swiss and Austrians on staging it.

With stadiums much smaller than they were two years ago in Germany, however, there are a lot less tickets to be had and, as a result, nothing like the buzz there was in the host cities of Dortmund, Munich and Cologne.

Only in Basle have there been scenes remotely comparable to Lisbon. Still, the locals are diverse enough to ensure that significant interest will persist until the tournament shifts exclusively to Austria after the first semi-final.

With 300,000 Italians, 170,000 Portuguese, 160,000 Germans and 60,000 Turks living within Swiss borders and slightly over one million additional foreign nationals expected to visit for at least one night during the championship, there was always the danger the Swiss would become bystanders at their own party.

Few are complaining, although the stickers that adorn lamp-posts around Zurich with the slogan "We care about money" a mocking take on the organisation's official slogan, "We care about football", hint at underlying misgivings over the way things have been organised.

In particular, critics have hit out at the rules governing city-centre fan zones, which were a hugely popular phenomenon in Germany and have also proven a hit here.

Though the areas, which provide the opportunity for ticketless supporters to watch games on big screens in specially constructed areas with stands that sell food and drinks, are located in city parks and largely paid for by local authorities, Uefa contributed €10 million to the total cost in both countries and, in return, has reserved the right to have visitors bearing the logos of rivals to its sponsors turned away.

The organisation insists it would take such action only in exceptional circumstances and the truth is it has been powerless to prevent widespread ambush and unofficial advertising.

While core sponsors like Coca Cola, McDonalds and Carlsberg have spent around €21 million to be associated with this tournament, most of the billboards carry ads with images clearly intended to establish some sort of link to the football, but without the cost of a formal tie-up.

Indeed, Swiss companies have been reluctant to commit themselves fully to the event; Basle, the country's main venue for games, had been unable even to sell the four local sponsorships allowed under the tournament's financial rules.

After another setback for Kuhn's men last night, as it happens, the pity is that they're unlikely to have too many regrets.