Euro 2012

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2012, will be the 14th European Championship for national football teams sanctioned by UEFA. Poland and Ukraine will be the host nations of the final tournament, scheduled for the summer of 2012, following the election of their joint-bid by UEFA’s Executive Committee, on April 18, 2007, in Cardiff, United Kingdom. This bid defeated the other shortlisted bids from Italy and Croatia/Hungary, becoming the third successful joint-bid for the European Championship, after those of Belgium/Netherlands, for Euro 2000, and Austria/Switzerland for Euro 2008.

The Polish-Ukrainian hosting is seen as a way of shifting the focus towards regions and nations of central and eastern Europe, whose population demonstrates a strong feeling for football, but are less developed in terms of the quality of the local leagues and football infrastructure, when compared with western Europe. Apart from Chorzów, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, the host cities are all popular tourist destinations. However, it is unclear if they have sufficient experience in accommodating large numbers of visitors for extended stays, and the existing transportation infrastructure within and between both countries is inadequate to allow a rapid flow of people between the venues. In order to improve this situation, the bid plans the expansion and modernization of roads and highways (e.g., Poland’s southwest–southeast A4 highway^[1]). The obligatory improvement of the football infrastructure includes the building of the new Shakhtar Stadium in Donetsk, which fits the 5-star UEFA criteria, and the near-completed 31,000-seat Dnipro Stadium in Dnipropetrovsk.

Readiness concerns

Enduring concerns about the progress of infrastructure improvements are making a change of venue a real possibility. On January 30, 2008, UEFA president Michel Platini went on the record to warn the organizers of the need to avoid “critical slippages” in their preparations^{[2] [3]}. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko replied on June 11, 2008 that Ukraine’s preparations for Euro 2012 were proceeding normally and that she was confident all projects would be completed on time.^[4] However, an official from the Ukrainian football federation stated the next day that Ukraine could lose the right to co-host the event due to delays in the renovation of Kiev’s Olympic stadium.^[5]. UEFA has been monitoring the situation closely and Platini confirmed on June 26 that a decision would be made in September 2008.^[6]

As of June, there were no plans to hold Euro 2012 outside of Poland and Ukraine, according to UEFA.^[7] However, Scotland has reportedly told UEFA it could step in and host the tournament.^[7] Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith told BBC Sport: “We have made it clear that we’d like to be considered if it’s not going ahead in Ukraine and Poland.^[3]. Although Michel Platini has maintained there are no plans to hold Euro 2012 outside of Poland and Ukraine, Gordon Smith and the SFA remain optimistic stating, “I said was that we’d like to be considered if that situation arose. We haven’t been told we are on standby or anything like that.”^[3] “We will do everything possible so Poland and Ukraine can host Euro 2012. The only reason not to go ahead would be the absence of a stadium in Warsaw and Kiev,” said Platini.

Infrastructure

Surkis added that the required logistics for a tournament that will take place in two time zones “gives us the impetus to build a new infrastructure and to come close to the European standard”. UEFA EURO 2012™ will bring new stadiums to Gdansk and Warsaw in Poland and Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk in Ukraine, as well as ensuring the renovation of eight other grounds. “We deserve the right to build a new Ukraine and a new Poland,” Surkis said. “Over the next five years we will build new countries - otherwise we won’t have such a chance for another 30-40 years.”