New Delhi: A report issued by UEFA has revealed that there is slight "concern" that hosts Poland and Ukraine will not meet certain criteria in time for the Euro 2012 competition before further stating that the Ukrainian cities are largely unready.
The UEFA Executive Committee met earlier on Wednesday in Bucharest, Romania, to review the preparations with regard to infrastructure in the cities which due to host matches throughout the tournament.
UEFA has decided preparation of infrastructure in the four proposed cities, as well as the two reserve cities, in Poland is progressing well and that they should be ready by Euro 2012's kick-off.
Therefore, UEFA has confirmed that the cities of Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw have been appointed unconditionally as host cities for the tournament, with Chorzow and Krakow thus no longer required as reserves.
Ukrainian Problems
However, the report indicated that there are concerns regarding the preparation of infrastructore in the proposed Ukrainian cities.
The UEFA Executive Committe has decided to confirm Kiev as a host city for group matches, quarter final matches, and a semi-final, but ruled that it will not be able to host the final unless certain conditions are met by November 30 2009.
UEFA has also decided that signicant work needs to be done to ensure that the other propsed Ukrainian cities meet regulations set to host Euro 2012 games.
Therefore, UEFA failed to confirm Donetsk, Lviv and Kharviv as host cities, and has given them a final deadline of November 30 2009 to meet requirements set for airports, stadiums, transport and accommodation.
Should the three Ukrainian cities not meet the criteria by November 30 2009, they will not be appointed as host cities for the Euro 2012 competition, throwing the tournament setup into severe jeopardy.
Worse yet, Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa have also failed be appointed as reserve cities having also failed to meet requirements, and thus they are completely out of contention.
Presidential Thoughts
With regard to the aforementioned decisions, UEFA president Michel Platini stated, "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."
The president went on to add, in an oddly-phrased statement, that the decision to appoint Poland and Ukraine as joint hosts is to be 'respected', falling short of offering a full, unconditional message of faith in the countries.
"We must respect the decision of the Executive Committee of 18 April 2007, when it awarded the organization of the European Football Championship 2012 to Poland and Ukraine," he said.
"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."
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