BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - UEFA chose four cities in Poland to host matches at the 2012 European Championship on Wednesday but said tournament co-host Ukraine could wind up with only two venues unless it makes major infrastructure improvements in the next six months.
UEFA said Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan will host games, while reserve cities Krakow and Chorzow were both scratched.
Meanwhile, UEFA delivered a sharp warning to Ukraine by confirming only Kiev as a host city and holding off on previous plans to stage the final in the Ukrainian capital.
UEFA guaranteed Kiev group matches, quarterfinal matches and a semifinal. It said Kiev will only host the final if significant improvements are made by Nov. 30 on the city’s Olympic Stadium, airport, infrastructure and hotels.
Three other cities in Ukraine – Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv – also have until Nov. 30 to prove they can make the massive upgrades to roads, airports, stadiums and hotels necessary to host matches.
“We’ve clearly set out the conditions Ukrainian cities must fulfill before Nov. 30 to host Euro 2012,” UEFA president Michel Platini told reporters in Bucharest.
“We would like for the executive committee to have an equal division of cities between Poland and Ukraine. If Ukrainian cities cannot fulfill the conditions by Nov. 30, we will organize Euro 2012 with four Polish cities and the two best prepared Ukrainian cities,” Platini said.
The final announcement will be made on Dec. 9 at a UEFA meeting in Portugal’s Madeira Islands, Platini said.
Asked if he was disappointed with Ukraine, Platini said: “Yes of course we are. We would have liked to have had four venues in Poland, and four venues in Ukraine. We do not say there are guarantees which is why we have postponed the decision to December.”
The president of Ukraine’s football federation, Grigoriy Surkis, called the UEFA decision “wise and balanced.”
He said that global financial crisis had badly hit the country, making preparations more difficult. However, he added: “I am still optimistic,” that Ukraine could get four cities ready.
Last week, the International Monetary Fund approved a long-delayed US$2.8 billion loan for Ukraine, which Surkis said would “open horizons and create new momentum.”
Ukraine’s financial problems have been compounded by political instability, but the situation has improved in recent weeks, the IMF said.
“Kiev has challenges for hosting the final match but the city will be ready to put the final dot on the ‘i’,” Surkis said.
Grzegorz Lato, the head of the Polish Football Federation, said he was confident Ukraine would overcome its obstacles.
“I think our friends in Ukraine will be able to get things done and the tournament will be held at eight stadiums,” Lato said. “I’m rooting for them, keeping my fingers crossed.”
“Poles and Ukrainians are in favor of an equal solution. We are a team, and this is a team game,” he added.
The two Ukrainian reserve cities of Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk were both dropped.
