EURO 2021

President Michel Platini will visit on April 15-16 Poland and Ukraine to meet officials organizing the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, he said at a press conference on Wednesday at the end of the XXXIII Ordinary UEFA Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. As referred to the preparations for the championship, he noted that ‘the situation at the organizational level is not easy for Poland and Ukraine, and it’s not easy for UEFA either. Poland and the Ukraine were a surprise choice to host the tournament and have since been dogged by […]

“Germans have been negotiating with the UEFA to take over the Euro 2012 organization from the Ukraine”, said Franz Beckenbauer to Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Beckenbauer, FIFA and the German Football Coalition vice-president admitted that the Ukraine’s troubles with organizing the tournament, due to the global economic crisis and the political turmoil in the Ukraine have forced UEFA to come out with a plan B. „It is not a mystery that we have been running talks in Zurich concerning our actions in case the Ukraine does not meet the deadlines. One such […]

The Polish and Ukrainian national football associations’ presidents, Grzegorz Lato and Hrihoryi Surkis, argued on Friday in Kiev that these two countries would meet the Euro 2012 deadlines. „I am fully convinced that the Ukraine will be on time and that we will be on time” said Lato after a joint press conference with Surkis. The head of the Polish Football Association visited Ukraine as the first country after his election to the position. „I am making my first steps here (as the PFA president) and the visit (to Ukraine) […]

Turkey has offered to host the 2012 European Football Championship if Ukraine and Poland, co-hosts of Europe’s biggest football organization, back out over the economic turmoil that badly affected Ukraine, the Turkish sports minister said on Wednesday. Turkish State Minister for Sports Murat Basesgioglu told a parliamentary committee meeting that Turkey has hosted major international sporting events in the past and could competently host Euro 2012. News reports earlier said that Ukraine’s severe financial crisis was threatening the country’s ability to host the 2012 European Championship as most construction projects […]

The euphoria which gripped Ukraine and Poland on April 18, 2007 after winning the right to host Europe’s football championship, EURO 2012, has come to nothing. A year after the triumphal hugs and kisses, the two countries’ preparations have progressed so poorly that Football Federation of Ukraine President Hryhoriy Surkis, and Football Federation of Poland President Michal Listkiewicz had to explain the situation in detail to the Union of European Football Association’s executive committee in last March. The National Agency to Prepare and Host EURO 2012 was established to coordinate […]

A match-fixing scandal and a complacent attitude towards construction may undermine Poland’s ability to co-host Euro 2012 There is a rumour going around that Poland-Ukraine was awarded the rights to host Euro 2012 only by embittered Lennart Johansson acolytes looking to screw up Michel Platini’s reign. It is, almost certainly, nothing more than mischief-making, and yet there was a strange pause as Platini opened the envelope that could, with hindsight, be construed as horror. On that momentous day in Cardiff, west seemed to offer an arm to east and talk […]

The industrial heart of eastern Ukraine was glowing in a beautiful sunset as local heroes Shakhtar Donetsk took on their arch-rivals Dinamo Kiev. Yet the Soviet-era stadium looked small and a bit too old-fashioned for Shakhtar Donetsk, one of the country’s top teams. There are concerns that Ukraine may not be ready in time for the Uefa European Football Championships in 2012, which it will co-host with Poland. It will be the most prestigious project that Ukraine has ever co-hosted, and it is expected to attract thousands of fans. But […]

Poland and Ukraine today won the bid to host the UEFA EURO 2012 Soccer Championship. The decision by the UEFA Executive Committee came as a most welcome surprise for two nations currently mared by political crisis. Beating the odds against favourite contender Italy, UEFA in a seminal decision opted for development instead of profit. By this brave and strategic decision, UEFA clearly showed that soccer is a concern for all or Europe, and not merely a concern of mighty nations of the EU. Sport is politics. This has been evident […]

  Uefa president Michael Platini reveals the surprise hosts of Euro 2012 Poland and Ukraine have been chosen to host the 2012 European Championships. Italy was widely expected to win the Uefa vote in Cardiff, with another joint bid from Croatia and Hungary also in the running. However, Italy’s bid was overshadowed by last season’s referee corruption scandal and on-going problems with football-related crowd trouble. It will be the first time that either Poland or Ukraine has hosted a major football championship. Poland and Ukraine will host Euro 2012 Uefa […]