Over the past two years,Ukrainehas built two stadiums, opened four airports, and unveiled a fleet of high-speed trains. It has spent $14.5bn (£9.3bn) on preparations for theEuro 2012football championships, a whopping sum for a small GDP country. Workmen have been tidying up outside Kiev's impressive web-roofed Olympic stadium, the venue for the 1 July final.
And yet on the eve of the tournament Ukraine is staring at nothing less than a full-blown PR disaster. Inan interview with Panorama, the former England defenderSol Campbellbluntly says Uefa was wrong to give Euro 2012 toPolandand Ukraine because of their failure to get to grips with racism. He tells fans: "Stay at home, watch it on TV. Don't even risk [going] … because you could end up coming back in a coffin."
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London Guardian: Euro 2012 turning into PR disaster for Ukraine
Terraces at Metalist stadium in Kharkiv, Ukraine, one of the Euro 2012 venues, where Panorama filmed a group of Asian students being attacked. Photograph: BBC
