Euro 2012

GENEVA — UEFA president Michel Platini will visit Poland and Ukraine in July to check on their preparations for co-hosting the 2012 European Championship.

The two countries have to intensify their efforts over the next few months in order to meet UEFA’s requirements, Platini told a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

But “there is no Plan B,” he said, referring to possible alternative venues in case the former eastern bloc states fail to put in place the necessary infrastructure to host the event.

UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said Platini will travel to Poland and Ukraine after Euro 2008, held in Austria and Switzerland in June.

Gaillard said UEFA’s main concern is whether the hotels and transportation networks - including airports, railways and roads - will be sufficient to host the hundreds of thousands of fans expected for the event. (more…)

Over 100 projects of stay- training centers were proposed in Poland as possible places of the accommodation participating in finals of the football European championships in 2012 teams - a minister of sport and tourisms, Mirosław Drzewiecki informed in the interview for TVN24.

The time of submitting an offer for bases of individual teams is passing on Friday, of 15 February. Drzewiecki said that through two next weeks the commission consisting from workers of the Ministry of Sport and the Polish Association of the football would select the centers, and chosen will be proposed to UEFA. - We will reject the ones which do not fulfill conditions required by the European Football Union. I hope that there will be over 30 for the European federation - said.ry “.

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The president of UEFA, Michel Platini appealed to organizers of the football European championships in 2012, Poles and Ukrainians, in order to “wake them up” in the realization of the program of preparations for this event.

Euro 2012 found the good place, but some people say that more brisk movements are needed from the side of both countries - on the webpage pointing to the opinion of Platini was written. The UEFA in 30th of the January presented the critical report on preparations of organizers of championships, underlining, that “the closest months will have deciding meaning in order to avoid harmful delays in the realization of projects concerning the infrastructure”.

Decision, in which Polish cities matches of Football European Championship 2012will be played, will be taken after making reports on the subject of stadiums and the infrastructure by UEFA - said a director of 2012 PL company Marcin Herra.

The company is responsible for a coordination of all works connected with the organization of finals of the football European championships in 2012 in Poland. Herra met with regional and self-government authorities of Cracow, Katowice and Chorzów on Wednesday. At the beginning of the April an UEFA delegation will come to Poland in order to judge the state of building works of stadiums on Euro 2012. In May an infrastructure report is supposed to be done. (more…)

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her Polish counterpart Donald Tusk on Friday promised their countries would co-host the European football championship in 2012 successfully.

Tymoshenko and Tusk made the remarks after the two sides signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in organizing and holding of the 2012 football championship. (more…)

Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk declared a donation from the national budget - the one-third of the whole building cost - for those cities that organize football Euro Championship. Confederation of Polish Employers claims that it is a good step in a good direction.

The present-day press conference of the Prime Minister showed that all the preparation to the EURO 2012 are conducted on schedule. However, UEFA has recently criticized our previous achievements and rebuked an organizational chaos with too much politics’ influence on championship’s preparation - claim CPE representatives.

On many occasions, Confederation Polish Employers showed the borders that had hindered proper arrangements of EURO 2012 and presented posibilities of their solution. CPE also indicated that the wrong building code will just elongate the completion date of the whole investment (sometimes their formal arrangement occupies a half of the whole investment’s time). (more…)

Austrian corporation Alpine Bau Gmbh won the competition for a build of a new stadium in Lviv.

On Thursday, the mayor of Lviv informed that the football matches of the Euro 2012 championship, that is organized by Poland and Ukraine, will take place in the mentioned stadium. According to Lviv city hall, the stadium that is rated for 33 thousands seats, will cost 85 millions Euro. The design of the building took its pattern from the stadium in Bern, where the participants of EURO 2008 will stay.

Alpine Bau will also build a parking (17 millions Euro) and a 3-starred hotel near the stadium. There was another Austrian company that participated in the auction. It was Implenia Global Solution Ltd which offered the build of a stadium that would contain from 32 to 55 thousands seats and cost 150 millions Euro.

EURO 2012 football matches will take place in at least four Ukrainian cities - Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Lviv.

Scotland is able to take charge of EURO 2012 instead of Poland and Ukraine - declared Gordon Smith, the general director of the Scothish Football Association.

During the interview for ‘Sunday Herald’ Smith asserted that the championship could be held in Scotland in case Poland and Ukraine did not manage to take care of the event.

In his opinion, there are three stadiums in Glasgow where international matches could be organized: Celtic Park, Hampden Park and Ibrox Park.

The Prime Ministe,r Donald Tusk, ensured the presidents of cities - organizers of the EURO 2012 football championship that the build of stadiums in Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan will be co-financed by the central budget. During a meeting in Warsaw the Prime Minister and the representatives of praticular cities presented a schedule of the championship spadework and

the miniatures of building where the football matches will be played. Additionally, Donald Tusk informed about the calling of the Organizational Committee where he was going to be leader.

The intention of the Wednesday meeting it was not to quiten anybody. EURO championship is a great challenge so we need to work in the high agog. The rebuke of UEFA is not a problem, it is a support. - Tusk comments on the latest Europe Federation rating which put an attention to the ‘delay’ in Polish and Ukrainian preparation to the EURO 2012. The committee included, among others, vice-premiers Waldemar Pawlak and Grzegorz Schetyna, the Minister of Infrastructure - Cezary Grabarczyk, the Minister of Sport and Tourism - Mirosław Drzewiecki, four presidents of the following cities: Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw, the representaitve of PZPN and the leaders of all the parliamentary clubs. Tomasz Arabski was pointed as the committee’s secretary. (more…)

Kyiv is expected to start building a 206-km long belt highway, the first stage of which (149 km) will be constructed until Euro-2012.

First Deputy Head Denys Bass of the Kyiv City State Administration said the road would include two new bridges across Dnieper. The cost of the construction will reach UAH 20 billion (about USD 4 billion). Kyiv’s authorities consider the issue to build terminals around the city for heavy haulers, which will let to prevent Kyiv from the transit transport. According to the State Service of Automobile Roads, UAH 76.2 billion (some USD 15.2 million) will be allocated for construction and repair of roads in Ukraine within the framework of preparations for Euro-2012 Finals.

Safety in stadium in cities-hosts of Euro 2012 its the issue raised during Polish-Ukrainian conference in Dnipropietrovsk. Both countries will be co-hosts of the championships.

Over 60 people take part in the conference which was organized as part of Polish-Ukrainian Self-Government Forum Euro 2012. They are representatives of cities-hosts of Euro 2012, representatives of the Ukrainian policy, the Polish embassy in Kiev and the staff of football federations from the both countries.

‘The European Championships are the third sports event in the world and because of that the requirements of UEFA are huge- said a director for safety in Polish Football Federation Wieslaw Wieczorek. One of the requirements is to come into use all stadiums in June 2012. We already know that it’s impossible and there will be delays. Of course UEFA will be informed about it’. (more…)

Stadium in Donieck will be the first arena of Euro 2012 which will come into use. Its opening is expected to be in July next year- announced the representative of city council Aleksander Gromakow during the conference of Polish-Ukrainian Self-Government Forum Euro 2012.

‘It will be the biggest and the most modern object in the eastern part of Europe. A roof made of glass will be its main feature. Apart from the stunning visual effect it is also a practical solution because it has a good effect on the grass preservation’- said Gromakow.

Stadium is patterned on the modernized Benfica’s object in Lisbon. It will hold 55 thousand spectators and its building cost is estimated on 250 million dollars. (more…)

Poland wants to set a new deadline for the construction of their Euro 2012 stadiums, Sports Minister Elzbieta Jakubiak said on Monday.

Since Poland won the right in April to co-host the event with Ukraine, early euphoria has been replaced by growing concerns it may not prepare new grounds and upgrade inadequate infrastructure in time.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA says the tournament co-hosts must build the necessary stadiums by mid-2010.

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The Building of National Stadiums on meadows of the Tenth Anniversary Stadium is our A plan – said in Radio Tok FM Mirosław Drzewiecki, the Citizens’ Platform (PO) candidate for minister of sport. This is a change of strategy of PO, for last few days both Drzewiecki and the president of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz espoused the change of the Stadium’s location.

The Building of National Stadiums on meadows of the Tenth Anniversary Stadium is our A plan – said in Radio Tok FM Mirosław Drzewiecki, the Citizens’ Platform (PO) candidate for minister of sport. This is a change of strategy of PO, for last few days both Drzewiecki and the president of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz espoused the change of the Stadium’s location.
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The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) experts first visit has begun on Monday in Warsaw, regarding the arrangement of championship of Europe in 2012.

“UEFA divided the whole complex of preparations into eight classes. The current visit relates to land transport, air transport and accomodation” – informed the chairman of  PZPN unit for Euro 2012 Adam Olkowicz. (more…)