UEFA official: Euro 2012 finals may be held in six cities instead of eight

UEFA official: Euro 2012 finals may be held in six cities instead of eight

Mar 19, 2010 at 21:12 | Interfax-Ukraine
Kyiv, March 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Martin Kallen, the UEFA Director responsible for the organization of the Euro 2012 finals, has said that if any of the host cities' stadiums are not prepared for the championship on time, the finals will be held in six cities instead of eight.

The UEFA director said this in an interview with the Polish Futbol News Web site (www.futbolnews.pl).

He said that the main problems are related to the construction of stadiums in the Ukrainian city of Lviv and Poland's Wroclaw.

"We're not very concerned about Wroclaw. Lviv is quit another matter. Much of the construction work is falling behind the schedule. There are problems with funding. It's time to act. Otherwise the stadium won't be completed on time," said Kallen.

He expressed hope that the facilities for hosting the championship will be prepared on time, but stressed that the number of host cities could be reduced.

Kallen said UEFA has a plan B - holding of Euro 2012 in six cities. A final decision has not been taken yet, but the number of host cities could be reduced to six, he said.

In April 2007, Ukraine and Poland were chosen to stage the finals of the Euro 2012 European Football Championship. Matches in Ukraine are to be held in Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk, while matches in Poland were to take place in Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Poznan. The final is to take place in the Ukrainian capital.