UEFA president Michel Platini has visited Poland and Ukraine to assess their progress in preparations to host the EURO 2012 tournament. Polish authorities he would like to see six Polish cities as the sites of the event but a maximum of eight cities from both countries' twelve candidates will be ultimately selected. The final decision on the host cities is to be taken by UEFA next month.
Click on the audio icon to listen to the report by Sławek Szefs.
Michel Platini started the visit to Warsaw with a tour of the site where the National Stadium is to be constructed and had a working dinner with representatives of the Polish Football Federation (PZPN). As always tight-lipped he did not offer much comment to reporters but, according to Polish sports minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki, he was pleased having seen the progress. At the same time minister Drzewiecki admitted slight delays as far as the construction of roads and the facelift, as he put it, of several railway stations are concerned.
Following the tour of the National Stadium, which will host the opening match of the tournament, sports minister Mirosław Drzewiecki indicated that he would recommend six Polish cities for the sites of the EURO 2012 tournament. The cities in question - Warsaw, Gdansk in the north, Krakow in the south, Wroclaw and Poznan in the west as well as the Silesian town of Chorzów are in different stages of preparation.The most advanced is Poland's capital and Poznan where the construction of the stadium is to be completed as early as next year.
UEFA is to make a decision on the host venues of the games in during the meeting of its Steering Committee in Bucharest on May 13. Following Platini's visit to Warsaw, UEFA Secretary-General David Taylor will visit all six Ukrainian and Polish cities next week.