Euro 2012 Poland - Ukraine

Dissatisfaction in Krakow

The decision caused negative emotions in rejected cities, especially in Krakow. It was best prepared of all 12 cities, it is well known in the world and it is experienced in organizing major events. However Krakow was put on reserve list in Poland 2 years ago due to political reasons by ruling party Law and Justice and then kept in this position by present leading political force in Poland - Civic Platform. Its leader and Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, comes from Gdansk and his deputy from Wroclaw - two other Polish cities which will host EURO matches. 

Host cities finally named

During its meeting on 13.05.2009 in Bucharest, the UEFA Executive Committee examined and discussed the state of infrastructure preparations for the final tournament of the 2012 UEFA European Championship. Finally UEFA decided to confirm the appointment of the four venues initially proposed by the Polish Football Association during the bidding phase: Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw.  The two Polish reserve cities – Chorzow and Krakow – have not been not appointed as official host cities nor retained as reserve cities.
Progress has been made in the preparation of infrastructure in all four proposed and two reserve cities in Poland. UEFA considered that all six cities had been in a position to fulfil the conditions for hosting matches at UEFA EURO 2012. However it named four cities it had signed initial agreement with.
UEFA President Michel Platini said: - 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.
In Ukraine UEFA confirmed Kiev as host city for group matches, quarter-final match(es) and a semi-final. It did not confirm Kiev as venue for the final match. The final match will be held in Kiev only if specific conditions with regard to the stadium, airport infrastructure, regional transport and accommodation are met by 30 November 2009.
UEFA did not to confirm Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkiv as host cities for group matches for the time being. However a last deadline has been granted to these three cities to meet specific conditions by 30 November 2009 with regard to the stadiums, airport infrastructure, regional transport and accommodation.
Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa has not been confirmed as host cities nor retain them as reserve cities. UEFA considers that due to the current shortcomings with regard to the stadiums, airport infrastructure, regional transport and accommodation, these two venues will not meet the tournament requirements.
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.