EURO 2021

Gianni Infantino, Secretary General of the UEFA has warned that Ukraine can lose the right to co-organize championships in 2012 with Poland. – At present, nothing can be ruled out but Ukraine knows what has to be done to not to make such situation happen – said Infantino in Florence during discussions of the organization of European champions leagues. He added that he is concerned with delays in the infrastructure. He reminded that until the end of November, the Ukrainians have time to convince UEFA that they are able to […]

UEFA is delighted with the progress of Ukraine in preparations to organize the European football championships in 2012 in recent months – assessed on Wednesday in Kiev, Martin Kallen, UEFA chief executive for Euro 2012. – Now, the situation looks good, works are being made, so we are pleased with the progress made by Ukraine – said Kallen at the press conference. When asked by journalists how he assess the level of preparations in Poland and Ukraine Kallen said that “it is equal.” He also pointed out that the Ukrainians […]

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 […]

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 […]

Where even soccer is politics, infrastructure improvements have fallen behind. KIEV — In Ukraine, soccer is simply politics pursued through other means. The vicious and sometimes petty power struggle at the highest reaches of the country’s government has spilled over to its sports fields. Two years ago, UEFA, Europe’s governing soccer body, awarded Ukraine and its Slavic neighbor Poland the prestigious designation as co-hosts of the European soccer championships in 2012. The European championship, held every four years, is the largest international soccer tournament after the World Cup and one […]

The head of UEFA Michel Platini did not rule out the possibility of deprivation Ukraine of hosting EURO 2012, which is to be organized together with Poland, if Ukraine fails to catch up with the preparations until the end of the year. Such an opinion was expressed in an interview with French sports daily L’Equipe.” – The decision will be made at the beginning of December during the meeting of ourr (UEFA) Executive Committee in Madeira. December is the deadline. Now there is a fight with time, but at this […]

The construction of the stadium is delayed and the money for it stolen – announced a select committee appointed by the Ukrainian parliament to investigate the uncertainties concerning rebuilding of the final arena of Euro 2012. The head of the select committee, Rawil Safiullin has no illusions. – Everything points to the fact that the money is stolen – said Rawil in the Ukrainian newspaper “Today”. According to him, millions of ‘hrywien’ which flow from the country’s budget spreads “somewhere” on its way. Last year, the main contractor promised to […]

Ukraine’s preparations to co-host the European Football Championship in 2012 have fallen badly behind schedule. Uefa, Europe’s football governing body, has given the country until 30 November to show significant improvement, or face losing most of the matches to the co-hosts, Poland. In the eastern city of Donetsk, people are riding high on a tide of football fever. In May their team, Shakhtar, won the Uefa cup. Thousands came out onto the streets to celebrate and welcome the players home. The crowd seemed oblivious to the brooding presence of a […]

After a stuttering start, Poland has, unlike Ukraine, finally gained the confidence of UEFA, the governing body of European football, which recently confirmed that four Polish cities will host matches during the Euro 2012 football championships. Following early delays, Poland is likely to have acceptable stadiums in six cities, and the airport and hotel infrastructure looks to be in good shape as well. The problem, as ever in Poland, is with building a modern system of highways and expressways that would allow fans to move easily from venue to venue. […]

The Ukrainian cities of Kiev and Donetsk are guaranteed to be chosen as hosts for the 2012 European soccer championship and three others discover on Wednesday if they will join them. UEFA’s Executive Committee meets in Bucharest this week to chose the venues for the tournament being co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland. The cities of Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Odessa all hope to be chosen although the latter two are on Ukraine’s reserve list of venues. Odessa, a port and resort town on the Black Sea Coast, is unlikely to […]