Final decision about Euro 2012 in autumn

UEFA president Michel Platini has not denied that Italy could replace Poland and Ukraine in organising Euro 2012, according Thenews.pl.

Michel Platini told the Italian La Stampa and Gazzetta dello Sport dailies that the final decision on who will organise the Euro 2012 football championships will be made in autumn.

Asked whether it was still Poland and Ukraine that are to host the championships, Platini said that ‘nothing has changed‘ though he added that an inspection on the progress of both countries will be made on 2 and 3 July, and a final decision will be made in the autumn.

 When the newspapers asked if Italy, who was the runner-up in the competition for organising the championships, still has a chance to host Euro 2012, Platini answered vaguely: "We`ll talk after the inspection."

 According to Platini, although some say that there is a possibility of changing the organisers of the tournament, this is still only ‘a hypothesis’.

 Poland and Ukraine have many organisational obstacles to overcome in order to be ready by 2012, such as building stadiums, hotels to accommodate fans and motorways and modernizing railway tracks to transport them to and from games. Out of the two countries, Ukraine seems to have more problems with preparing for the championships, say observers. (mo)