Artem Chobanian

Euro 2012 will be held in Ukraine and Poland. However, there are some obstacles to the finals even taking place there. A number of factors have been raised over recent months that could, in many peoples’ view, lead to UEFA decreeing a change of host, or perhaps asking Poland to host the finals alone. Of course for Ukraine this would be a disaster, especially after winning the right to host the finals was greeted with such delight.

Both Ukraine and Poland owe this success to Hryhori Surkis, president of the FFU (Federation of Football of Ukraine). His eagerness and persistence were so vivid and target-oriented that even Michel Platini was surprised and couldn’t resist the temptation to take one the Euros to Eastern Europe.

The projects that were presented to the UEFA committee had been carefully designed and brilliantly planned, so Ukrainian officials were sure they would win. A year after the victory there appear to be lots of problems and many Ukrainian fans think that UEFA will reverse their decision and choose another country. Frankly speaking, there are reasons for that.

According to the project plans presented by Ukraine and Poland, new roads will be built and old ones repaired. Well, this is very far from what’s happening in Ukraine. One of the most famous Russian and Ukrainian writers Nikolay Gogol said 200 years ago that there were two problems that ruin both countries: fools and roads. Unfortunately, there’s one more now: the fools building the roads. And that’s not a joke!

Not a single metre has been built or repaired during the year and an estimated 10,000 cars will visit Ukraine in 2012. Lots of companies argue about what, how and where to build the new roads. Moreover, there’s no sponsorship from large private companies and Ukraine’s government do not support the FFU.

Looking at the plans made by the Ukrainian side of the bid, Euro 2012 will see lots of roads and parks, but it turned out that many cities and regional authorities just do not allow the proposed changes in their area. This issue has not been solved. So, in short, the situation with regard to the new roads can be called ‘dead’. Surkis says there’s enough time before Euro 2012, so Ukraine will finish everything by the time the tournament begins. We just have to wait and see if his forecasts are right.

Next on the list of problems is stadia. UEFA demand that Ukraine build new world class stadia and upgrade/refurbish existing grounds. Among the major cities that will host the tournament only Donetsk is almost ready. The new Shakhtar stadium is being built and its arena will be one of the most wonderful in all Europe. Moreover, Rinat Ahmetov, president of Shakhtar Donetsk promised to also start reconstruction of the Olympiysky stadium. So, there’s nothing to worry about with Donetsk, but Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is not ready yet.

The stadium named after Valeryi Lobanovsky, which is the club ground of legendary Dynamo Kyiv, needs to be improved to increase the capacity. The area around the stadium has to be cleared of various kiosks, rubbish skips and farmers/peasants selling their own agricultural products.

Also in Kyiv, the city council spent a year trying to decide on the site where they will build a new big stadium, which will have to host the final of Euro 2012. Surkis, after his active role in the winning competition against Italy, has behaved like he is not the president of the FFU, but some small executive, who does not know what to do and how. He stopped his activities and helped no-one. When addressed by journalists about the construction of the new stadium, he answered, “It’s not my business now. Let the mayor do what he has to”. Well, of course, he is right to some extent, but his absolute indifference surprises everyone.

Another proposed stadium, the Dnipro arena in Dnipropetrovsk is very convenient, but small. City administration say they will do everything to finish reconstruction of the stadium on time, but they need financial support, because not a single dollar has reached Dnipropetrovsk since Ukraine and Poland’s winning bid. At one of the press conferences, Surkis was asked about Dnipropetrovsk, and all he could say was that they had not yet discussed that matter with his executive committee.

Speaking about Lviv, one of the most beautiful cities in all Ukraine, we must admit that the stadium there is not a bad one, but is located too far from the city and the training area around the arena is awful. The club from Lviv, Karpaty, are tired of asking the city’s administration for help. This is a small team with very little finance and they cannot afford to rebuild the stadium all by themselves. No progress has been made in Lviv either, so the problem with stadiums is very serious.

However, in Kharkiv, the city administration and sponsors have almost finished reconstruction of local club side Metalist’s stadium. New grass has been laid on the pitch and almost all the area around is clean. Of course, there are still lots of things to do, but the owner of Metalist, Alexander Yaroslavsky, says that everything that needs to be done will be done by this summer, and judging by the progress he’s already made, we believe him! 

Many might say that the former republics of the Soviet Union are living the way they became accustomed to. Only Russia has changed a lot due to Vladimir Putin’s active reformation of the country. But in Ukraine we will face another problem: lack of hotels, motels or other suitable accommodation.

UEFA claim Ukraine promised to build dozens of hotels and youth hostels to accept the thousands of fans from abroad who will flock to the Euros, but not an iron bar has been laid in the foundation of a new hotel. It’s not surprising though, service has always been the worst sphere of Ukrainian life. Rude and unqualified staff can be found in almost every supermarket, drug-store or local authority. Well, whatever happens with the roads and the stadiums, Ukrainian football officials should not forget about accommodation as well. Now this issue seems to be off their agenda.

Last but not least, here in Ukraine, is the problem that appeared a year ago and is so contagious that it has spread almost all over the country. This is the problem with fans and ultras organizations, which was carefully researched in one of our articles recently. We remember that the same problem almost ruined Italian football and, as you can see from the article, is still far from being solved successfully. Ukrainian fan movements are just developing, but most people hope they will not become the scourge of the country..

To sum everything up, we should also mention the fact that Ukraine has to deal with Poland as its co-hosts for Euro 2012. Compared to Ukraine most people think Poland managed to start all their preparations a year ago and will soon be ready to invite guests from Europe. But the truth is that Poland is at the same stage as Ukraine. The only thing Poland has as an advantage over Ukraine in is hotels and hostels. To compare all the points that discussed above we should dwell on Poland more carefully and thoroughly. But that’s another story… 

To get more idea of what’s going on in Ukrainian football, follow the link http://www.insidefutbol.com/category/eastern-europe/ukraine/