UEFA has chosen four cities in Poland to host matches at the 2012 European Championship but confirmed only one venue in Ukraine so far for the tournament.
UEFA says Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan will host games, while Krakow and Chorzow were kept as reserve cities.
But UEFA cited “important shortcomings” with infrastructure in co-host Ukraine. It only confirmed Kiev as a host city for group matches, quarter-final matches and a semi-final.
Kiev had been 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—Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv— until November 30 to prove they can upgrade their facilities.
Commenting on the decision of the Executive Committee, UEFA President Michel Platini said: “We have seen progress over the last few months but we must remind both countries that there is still a huge amount of work to be undertaken. There are numerous infrastructure issues that urgently need to be resolved in Ukraine to convince the UEFA Executive Committee that the host city candidates can be appointed as UEFA EURO 2012 host cities.
“We must respect the decision of the Executive Committee of 18 April 2007, when it awarded the organisation of the European Football Championship 2012 to Poland and Ukraine. This was again emphasised by the UEFA Congress in March 2009, when it stressed the importance that the staging of this world-class event will have to further promote and develop football in the eastern part of Europe.
“I also want to take the opportunity to thank the cities of Chorzow and Krakow in Poland, and Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa in Ukraine for their involvement in UEFA EURO 2012™ so far.”
UEFA will continue to closely monitor the progress of the preparations in all of the designated cities and will review the situation of the Ukrainian host city candidates in December 2009.
For more fascinating features, subscribe and save 30% and use the below link?
