A general view of rebuilding Kiev's stadium Olympiysky on April 15, 2009 (AFP Photo / Sergei Supinsky)
Kiev may forfeit staging Euro 2012 final
Published 13 May, 2009, 15:43
UEFA has chosen four cities in Poland to host matches at the 2012 European Championship but continue to be disappointed by Ukraine’s preparations, where only one venue has been confirmed for the tournament so far.
The European football governing body took into account such factors as transport infrastructure, hotels, as well as the geographic location of all cities, to arrive at its conclusion.
“For the last two years, experts were sent to the various cities to check on their preparedness. We could choose a total of eight cities [in Poland and Ukraine, the two co-host countries],” UEFA President Michel Platini said at a press conference in Bucharest.
So Poland’s Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan will definitely host games, while Krakow and Chorzow will be kept in reserve.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, UEFA cited "important shortcomings" with infrastructure in Poland’s neighbor. It only confirmed Kiev as a host city for group matches, quarterfinal matches and a semifinal. Kiev was previously scheduled to host the final, but UEFA said that will only happen if major improvements are made in the next six months.
UEFA also gave three other cities in Ukraine – Lvov, Donetsk and Kharkov – until November 30 to prove they can make the necessary upgrades.
The 2012 event will be the first of its kind held in Eastern Europe.
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