U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Tefft has said he regrets that the U.S. football team will not take part in the Euro 2012 European Football Championship, but hopes that many fans from the United States will attend the events.
"I hope that many U.S. citizens will come to watch the games. The only thing that disappoints me is that the U.S. football team cannot take part in the championship," Tefft said at a briefing on Tuesday, when asked whether he expects U.S. citizens to visit Ukraine for Euro 2012.
"U.S. public officials are not planning to attend the matches of the championship, as we don’t have our team here. But I hope that many U.S. citizens will come, probably, including some celebrities. But since I don’t have certain confirmations of their arrival I would like to refrain from announcing their names," the diplomat said.
The ambassador added that the United States shared with Ukraine their experience and held exercises for law enforcers to train them how to control crowds and the airspace over the stadiums during the championship.
"This experience was successfully learned and implemented by the Ukrainian side," he said.
