By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
April 1- Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych today admitted that preparations for Euro 2012 had “fallen into terrible decay” but promised to spend 30 billion hryvnia (£2.5 billion/$3.8 billion) on getting the project back on track.
Earlier this week, Michel Platini, the President of UEFA, warned that Ukraine were facing the prospect of being stripped of the right to co-host the tournament with Poland and their share of matches awarded instead to Germany.
But Yanukovych has pledged to ensure that everything is done to make sure that Ukraine’s facilities, including the stadiums and infrastructure, will be ready for 2012.
He said: ”Today the project has fallen into terrible decay.
“We have to find people who can do the job.”
Yanukovych was inaugurated as Ukraine’s new President in February.
He is a keen football fan and supporter of last year’s UEFA Cup winners, Shakhtar Donetsk.
Platini is scheduled to visit Ukraine next week on an inspection of the country’s preparations and will be encouraged by Yanukovych’s promises.
Yanukovych (pictured) said: ”We have accepted this challenge, and I believe we will prepare properly.
“We have to at the very minimum spend 30 billion hryvnas (£2.5 billion/$3.8 billion) this year alone.
“Otherwise we risk shaming ourselves as hosts who are unable to greet guests in a worthy fashion.
“But we will utilise funds to urgently find construction companies to deal with infrastructure: roads, hotels, airport terminals, etc.
“Already this year we will boost [our performance], which is one of our priorities, so that in 2012 we were not ashamed of our country, that we, as hosts, could provide a worthy welcome to guests, fans and representatives from around the world.”
The worst delays are in the western Ukrainian city Lviv, where work has only begun on a new stadium, and a plan to rebuild the airport has run into trouble because of the economic crisis.
But Oleh Zasadny, the director of Euro 2012 at Lviv City State Administration, has claimed that preparations there are back under control.
He said: ”Now that the state is overseeing the construction of the stadium and airport in Lviv and is guaranteeing the dates for the implementation of these projects, we can say with confidence that Lviv, along with other host cities in Ukraine, has entered a new stage of preparation.”
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