April 7 – A UEFA delegation headed by its President, Michel Platini, has arrived in Lviv on a two-day visit to check on the progress of the country’s troubled preparations for the 2012 European Championships.
The UEFA team, who also include vice-president Marios N Lefkaritis, are to travel to the proposed Euro 2012 host cities – Lviv, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv – and visit the stadiums where football matches are to take place.
It is Platini’s first visit to Ukraine since he warned them earlier this week that they were in danger of being stripped of the right to co-host the tournament with Poland and that there share of matches could be transferred to Germany.
Since then Ukraine’s new President Viktor Yanukovych has intervened and set up a new high-powered Government Committee to oversee preparations, including promising to spend 30 billion hryvnia (£2.5 billion/$3.8 billion) on getting the project back on track.
Platini said: ”I believe that the stadiums will be completed, and believe the promises made by the Ukrainian Government.
“Today, we have heard these promises, but Euro 2012 will be held in 2012, not in 2013.
“So, at some point we will have to make a decision [about whether to continue having Ukraine as a host].”
Platini is due to meet with Yanukovych in Kiev tomorrow.
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