UEFA names 4 Euro 2012 host cities in Poland, but only 1 so far in Ukraine

UEFA names 4 Polish Euro 2012 hosts, 1 in Ukraine

BUCHAREST, Romania — 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.”

The two Ukrainian reserve cities of Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk were both dropped.