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UEFA's Platini: Ukraine is "almost ready" for Euro 2012

Other News Materials 27 September 2011 13:39 (UTC +04:00)
Ukraine is "almost ready" to host its share of Euro 2012, UEFA head Michel Platini said Tuesday as he continued an inspection tour of match venues
UEFA's Platini: Ukraine is "almost ready" for Euro 2012

Ukraine is "almost ready" to host its share of Euro 2012, UEFA head Michel Platini said Tuesday as he continued an inspection tour of match venues, dpa reported.

"There are no major problems in Euro 2012 preparations, but there are a great many small problems and tasks that still have to be resolved," Platini said during a visit to the eastern city Kharkiv for a gala opening of a VIP airport terminal.

A UEFA delegation led by Platini was on the second of a two-day tour of all four Ukrainian cities scheduled to hold Euro 2012 matches. Poland is a co-host for the June tournament.

They were scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukokych later in the day.

"We still have to work on problems in the transportation and in the hotel industry," he said, according to the news agency Interfax. "But I am sure this will be resolved."

Platini singled an incomplete roof in the Lviv stadium and too-short runways at Donetsk airport as preparation jobs particularly needing attention.

Borys Kolesnkikov, Ukraine 's vice premier for preparation for Euro 2012, and Hryhory Surkis, head of the Federation of Football; led the group of Ukrainian officials accompanying Platini.

The cities Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv and Lviv are Ukraine's designated game sites.

Ukrainian media has named low quality hotels, a Soviet-era transportation network and historically low service standards as the most intractable problems faced by the country's Euro 2012 organizers.

Sports observers have widely predicted Ukrainian hotel room shortfalls, particularly in the low- and mid-range price category, and especially during later Euro 2012's later stages, when matches are likely to be played before capacity crowds.

Donetsk mayor Aleksandr Lukyanchenko during a press conference with Platini said his city would resolve its hotel room shortage by chartering planes for fans to travel to Donetsk - a city not usually visited by tourists - from the capital Kiev, where there are more hotels.

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