Euro 2012

Wrocław, despite the delay in construction of the stadium not only will not lose the possibility to organize Euro 2012, but apart from three group matches it may obtain right to play one of the championships quarter-final meetings.

For the time being, UEFA decided that the Euro 2012 opening match will be played in Warsaw, and the final of championships in Kiev. It is also settled that semi-finals will also take place in these cities. However, the unsettled question is still the place of four quarter-final matches. At some websites devoted to Euro 2012 it is said that Gdansk is supposed to be one of these cities but this information is out of date and not officially confirmed by UEFA.

It was initially assumed that UEFA authorities would indicate cities which will be given the right to organize quarter-final matches during the meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee on Madera in December 2009. However, at that time, they postponed the decision. Finally, UEFA was to inform about it on last Sunday in Warsaw during the draw for qualifying groups. But it did not happen – the decision has not been taken again and it is not known when it will.

(read more…)

How to fight racism in sport?

A practical guide for football clubs published in Poland

News from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association

26.02.2010

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has released a toolkit entitled How to fight racism? It contains practical guidelines and advice concerning the elimination of racist and xenophobic behaviour from stadiums and pitches. The toolkit is tailor-made for Polish football clubs.
The manual has been prepared with the support of UEFA and the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network. The Council of Europe, the Polish Football Association and the Polish Former Football Players’ Association have also expressed their support for the project.

-’We have prepared the toolkit in a CD format, we have drawn from the best European experiences, and adapted them for use by Polish clubs. It is supposed to be a powerful instrument in the combat against discrimination, racism and prejudice. We propose good solutions and show how to promote multiculturalism in sport and in the stadiums’ – explains Jacek Purski, a representative of the ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of the Stadiums’ campaign.

The toolkit ‘How to fight racism?’ contains explanations of what is racism in sport, what are its most common manifestations as well as information on how to face it successfully. It presents advices and tips, which have already proved to be successful in many Western European and Polish football clubs.

(read more…)

Preparations for the construction of the stadium’s roof are underway: the first of 72 huge elements has arrived from Italy.

On Thursday the first of 72 elements of the inner ring truss arrived from Italy, one of the main elements of the roof. The element is over 12.5 meters long and weighs 48 tons.

First attempts at laying out the concrete for the floor construction on level +1 have begun, over the main entrance to the stadium. Work on the foundations under the columns of the steel roof is being done under a heated tent.

48 out of 72 steel support pillars for the roof’s construction have also arrived. Each element weighs 3.5 tons. The steel construction’s assembly will begin in March.

(read more…)

Martin Kallen, the UEFA Director responsible for the organization of the Euro 2012 finals, strolled through the Palace of Culture and Science – where the draw for European Football Championship qualifying groups was held – with pride.

He ensured that the draw, a test for Poland as co-host of the championships, was enjoyed by all participants.

- The draw was very successful – it was a great start of the tournament. All the guests felt a little Polish spirit. From what I heard, everyone was happy and satisfied. Now they are going home and will battle it out on football pitches for the chance to return to Poland with their teams in 2012,” said Kallen.

- It’s hard for me to judge the draw’s results. Traditionally, the A team travels far distances. And it will be the same this time. The German team will travel to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. I for one was anxious about Switzerland – he added.

(read more…)

Preparations for the Euro 2012 football tournament in Poland and Ukraine are well on track, the ruling body UEFA said on Friday with nine days left until the qualifying group draw.

The February 7 draw in Warsaw is the first big event around the tournament which created various problems in the early stages after the two Eastern European nations were elected hosts in 2007.

‘Preparations for Euro 2012 are going well,’ UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told the body’s website after an executive board meeting on Thursday in Malta.

(read more…)

Platini has made it clear that UEFA’s decision to award Euro 2012 to Poland and Ukraine was far from a safe bet…

The focus of the football world is at the African Nations Cup at the moment and will be shifted to the 2010 World Cup come June, but UEFA president Michel Platini is already thinking about Euro 2012.

The tournament will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, and both nations have been criticised more than once for the slow progress in infrastructure improvements and stadium construction projects.

(read more…)

In Poznan, Gdansk and Wroclaw people are happy that thanks to Euro 2012 they will have a modern stadium for 40 thousands of spectators.

At the same time, activists of the Lech, Lechia and Silesia clubs are worried and wonder what to do so as not to make the tribunes empty during the top league matches.

A 40-thousandth facility occupied in the middle looks pretty gloomily. It will be better if all seats of the 15-thousandth stadium are occupied with spectators – said Michael Lipczyński, marketing director of Lech. In the last season Ruch Chorzow played at the Silesian Stadium.

Over 40 thousands of people watched the match only with Górnik Zabrze, others had lower results.

Will the tribunes of new stadiums after Euro 2012 be occupied at all during the matches of Lech, Lechia or Silesia?

(read more…)

On Monday morning, lifting of the 400-tonne truss, one on the elements of roof structure, was supposed to begin.

The construction has to be lifted by three cranes excavators at the height of 58 meters and placed on two already mounted trusses. Meanwhile, works have not yet begun because builders of the Poznan stadium again have problems with the installation of roof construction.

Ryszard Dembinski, chief executive of Euro Poznan 2012, states that such a situation will no affect the deadline of returning Lech players to the stadium at Byłgarska street. Lech players were supposed to play their first match at the end of September, then it was 21 November and finally Kolejorz in Poznan is to play in March next year.

UEFA president Michel Platini has announced that he is pleased with Poland’s progress towards hosting the for coming UEFA EURO 2012™.

Platini believes that the UEFA EURO 2012™ organizing committee is operating successfully and the whole process of preparing the tournament is under control – such conclusions were reached by UEFA officials who have been following the situation in Poland to date.

“Preparations for UEFA EURO 2012™ in Poland are being realized according to schedule, but the situation in Ukraine is quite complex,” stated Platini after meeting the President of the EU Parliament, Jerzy Buzek.

In contrast, the decision on which cities in Ukraine can hold UEFA EURO 2012™ matches is yet to be made in December. Currently, observers are working on a complete report of Ukraine’s preparations.

Last May, UEFA stated that only Kiev meets all the football association’s required conditions and expectations. Three other cities – Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkiv – have been given a chance to convince UEFA they will be able to organize championship matches until December 2009.

Finally, Michel Platini was also asked about the UEFA EURO 2012™ final, scheduled to be played in Kyiv, and the UEFA head confirmed that the city still needs to improve the hotel and transportation situation.

Poland have appointed local Franciszek Smuda as coach in place of sacked Dutchman Leo Beenhakker.

Having missed out on a World Cup berth and qualifying automatically as hosts for Euro 2012, Smuda’s first competitive game is more than two and a half years away.

Smuda, who is the national team’s 44th coach, has a contract until the end of the European Championship in which Poland are guaranteed an automatic place as co-hosts with Ukraine.

Smuda replaces temporary coach Stefan Majewski, whose team lost the last two games of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
(read more…)