UEFA Euro 2012

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UEFA Euro 2012Mistrzostwa Europy w Piłce Nożnej 2012 (Polish)
 Чемпіонат Європи з футболу 2012 (Ukrainian)
UEFA Euro 2012 official logo
Tournament details
Host countries Poland
Ukraine
Dates 8 June – 1 July
Teams 16
Venue(s) 8 (in 8 host cities)
← 2008
2016 →


The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2012, will be the 14th European Championship for national football teams sanctioned by UEFA. The final tournament will be hosted by Poland and Ukraine between 8 June and 1 July 2012. It is the first time that either nation has hosted the tournament. This bid was chosen by UEFA's Executive Committee in 2007.[1]

The final tournament features sixteen nations, the last European Championship to do so (from Euro 2016 onward, there will be 24 finalists). Qualification was contested by 51 nations between August 2010 and November 2011 to join the two host nations in the tournament. The winner of the tournament gains automatic entry to the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Brazil.[2]Contents [hide]
1 Host selection
2 Background
2.1 Readiness concerns
3 Venues
4 Qualification
4.1 Participating teams
5 Final draw
6 Match officials
7 Group stage
7.1 Group A
7.2 Group B
7.3 Group C
7.4 Group D
8 Knockout phase
8.1 Quarter-finals
8.2 Semi-finals
8.3 Final
9 Broadcasting
10 Miscellany
10.1 Mascots
10.2 Logo and slogan
10.3 Ticketing
10.4 Match ball
10.5 Transportation
11 Controversy
12 References
13 External links

[edit]
Host selection
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 bids

The joint Poland–Ukraine bid was chosen by a vote of the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting in Cardiff on 18 April 2007.[1] This bid defeated the other shortlisted bids from Italy and Croatia–Hungary, becoming the third successful joint bid for the European Championship, after those of Belgium–Netherlands (2000) and Austria–Switzerland (2008).
[edit]
Background
[edit]
Readiness concerns

Hosting city Kharkiv in Ukraine with Euro 2012 logo.

In January 2008, UEFA president Michel Platini went on the record to warn the organisers of the need to avoid "critical slippages" in their preparations,[3] prompting Scotland to reportedly inform UEFA that they would be willing to step in as hosts,[4] which they reiterated again later in the year.[5] However, by June 2008, UEFA stated they were "not discussing any plan B in terms of new countries" hosting.[6]

Ukraine reported several problems which threatened their ability to co-host: delays in the renovation of Kiev’s Olympic Stadium,[7] and difficulties funding infrastructure work after the economic crisis struck.[8] After an inspection in April 2009, Platini re-affirmed that Ukraine would remain co-host but hinted that most matches could go to Poland.[9] The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated his country would be capable of this task, but was committed to the original 4 + 4 host city plan,[10] as was the Polish FA.[11]

Poland's one major incident occurred in late September 2008, when its government suspended the Polish Football Association (PZPN) over corruption issues and assigned an administrator. UEFA swiftly issued a letter warning that it risked losing the right to co-host,[12] which resulted in the government yielding.[13] Preparation work proceeded more speedily than in Ukraine and, following a visit in April 2009, Platini announced that all was on track and he saw no major problems.[9] The following month, UEFA confirmed the appointment of the Polish cities of Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław and Gdańsk.[14] At the same meeting, an appeal for delayed decision on the Ukrainian venues was granted to Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv in order to meet specific conditions regarding infrastructure, with a warning that only Kiev and the best prepared city of the other candidates would otherwise be used if issues were not resolved by the end of November.[15][16][17][18]

In September 2009 Platini announced that "Ukraine has made sudden progress in their efforts to stage the tournament",[19] and it was soon confirmed that their four cities (Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev and Lviv) would host matches. Kiev was also confirmed to host the Final.[20]

An interview Platini gave to the German FA in May 2010, suggesting that Germany and Hungary could even replace Ukraine unless improvements were made, cast new doubt on their readiness.[21] But by August, Platini revisited that and stated "You can consider that the ultimatum no longer exists",[22] and that he was optimistic about preparations in both countries and saw no major obstacles.[23] After a UEFA delegation visited Ukraine in September 2011, he stated the country was "virtually ready for Euro 2012".[24]
[edit]
Venues
See also: Transport in Poland and Transport in Ukraine

Infrastructure of the host nations: European, Polish and Ukrainian major routes.

Apart from Donetsk and Kharkiv, the host cities are all popular tourist destinations (the latter having replaced Dnipropetrovsk as a host city in 2009).[25] The bid package requires the expansion and modernisation of roads and transport links.[26]

The obligatory improvement of the football infrastructure includes the building of new stadiums: Six of the eight venues are brand new stadia currently being constructed ready to open in advance of the tournament; the remaining two (in Poznań and Kharkiv) have undergone major renovations to improve them.[27][28] Three of the stadia will fulfill the criteria of UEFA's highest category stadiums.

In a return to the format used at Euro 1992, Euro 1996 and Euro 2008, each group will be based around two stadia.Warsaw Gdańsk Wrocław Poznań
National Stadium
Capacity: 58,145[29] PGE Arena
Capacity: 44,636[29] (Reduced to 40,818)[30] Municipal Stadium
Capacity: 44,416[29] (Reduced to 40,610)[30] Municipal Stadium
Capacity: 43,090[29] (Reduced to 42,004)[30]


Kiev Kharkiv Donetsk Lviv
Olympic Stadium
Capacity: 70,050[29] (Reduced to 65,720)[30] Metalist Stadium
Capacity: 38,863[29] (Reduced to 38,500)[30] Donbass Arena
Capacity: 51,504[29] (Reduced to 50,055)[30] Arena Lviv
Capacity: 34,915[29]



Note: Capacity figures are those for matches at UEFA Euro 2012 and are not necessarily the total capacity that the stadium is capable of holding.
[edit]
Qualification
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

The draw for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying competition took place in Warsaw on 7 February 2010.[31] 51 teams entered to compete for the 14 remaining places in the finals, alongside co-hosts Poland and Ukraine. These teams were divided into nine groups, with the draw using the new UEFA national team coefficient for the first time in order to determine the seedings.

The qualifying process began in August 2010 and concluded in November 2011. At the conclusion of the qualifying group stage in October 2011, the nine group winners qualified automatically, with the second placed team with the best ranking also doing so. The remaining eight teams who finished second in their respective groups contested two-legged play-offs, with the winner of each tie qualifying for the finals.
[edit]
Participating teams

The finals will feature sixteen national teams, as has been the format since 1996. Some European football associations were in favour of expanding the tournament to 24 teams, although the number of UEFA members had hardly increased since the last tournament extension in 1996 (53 in April 2006 compared to 48 for Euro 1996).[32] In April 2007, UEFA's Executive Committee formally decided against an expansion for 2012.[33]

Country has qualified
Country has failed to qualify
Country is not a UEFA member

Twelve of the sixteen finalists participated at the previous tournament in 2008, with England and Denmark, who participated in 2004, returning after missing the 2008 edition. The Republic of Ireland return after an absence of 24 years, making only their second appearance at a European finals. Hosts Ukraine, make their debut as an independent nation, having previously participated as part of the Soviet Union.

The sixteen finalists who will participate in the final tournament are: Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Greece
Italy Netherlands
Poland (co-hosts)
Portugal
Republic of Ireland
Russia
Spain (title holders)
Sweden
Ukraine (co-hosts, first appearance)

[edit]
Final draw
Further information: UEFA Euro 2012 seeding

The draw for the final tournament took place on 2 December 2011 at the Ukraine Palace of Arts in Kiev, Ukraine.[34][35] The hour-long ceremony was hosted by Olga Freimut and Piotr Sobczyński, television presenters from the two host countries.

As was the case for the 2004 and 2008 finals, the sixteen finalists were divided into four seeding pots, using UEFA's national team coefficient ranking.[36] As co-hosts, Poland and Ukraine were automatically placed in Pot 1, along with Spain, as the defending champions.[37]

In the draw procedure, each of the four groups had one team drawn from each pot. It also determined which place in the group teams drawn from Pots 2–4 would take (i.e. A2, A3 or A4) to create the match schedule.[37] For logistical reasons, Poland were assigned in advance to A1, and Ukraine to D1.[38] The balls were drawn by four former players who have each been part of European Championship winning teams: Horst Hrubesch, Marco van Basten, Peter Schmeichel and Zinedine Zidane.Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
Ukraine
Poland
Spain
Netherlands Germany
Italy
England
Russia Croatia
Greece
Portugal
Sweden Denmark
France
Czech Republic
Republic of Ireland

[edit]
Match officials

UEFA named the twelve referees for UEFA Euro 2012 on 20 December 2011 (assistant referees to be announced on a later date).[39]Country Referee
England Howard Webb
France Stéphane Lannoy
Germany Wolfgang Stark
Hungary Viktor Kassai
Italy Nicola Rizzoli
Netherlands Björn Kuipers
Portugal Pedro Proença
Scotland Craig Thomson
Slovenia Damir Skomina
Spain Carlos Velasco Carballo
Sweden Jonas Eriksson
Turkey Cüneyt Çakır


The following four officials will only act as fourth officials.Country Fourth official
Czech Republic Pavel Královec
Norway Tom Harald Hagen
Poland Marcin Borski
Ukraine Viktor Shvetsov


Continuing the trials carried out in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, two additional assistant referees will be used on the goal line for the first time in the history of the UEFA European Championship with approval from the International Football Association Board.
[edit]
Group stage
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 schedule

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) in Poland and Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) in Ukraine.
[edit]
Group A
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 Group ATeam Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Russia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Czech Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 June 2012
18:00 UTC+2 Poland Match 1 Greece National Stadium, Warsaw

8 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Russia Match 2 Czech Republic Municipal Stadium, Wrocław

12 June 2012
18:00 UTC+2 Greece Match 9 Czech Republic Municipal Stadium, Wrocław

12 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Poland Match 10 Russia National Stadium, Warsaw

16 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Czech Republic Match 17 Poland Municipal Stadium, Wrocław

16 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Greece Match 18 Russia National Stadium, Warsaw


[edit]
Group B
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 Group BTeam Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Germany 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Portugal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 June 2012
19:00 UTC+3 Netherlands Match 3 Denmark Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv

9 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Germany Match 4 Portugal Arena Lviv, Lviv

13 June 2012
19:00 UTC+3 Denmark Match 11 Portugal Arena Lviv, Lviv

13 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Netherlands Match 12 Germany Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv

17 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Portugal Match 19 Netherlands Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv

17 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Denmark Match 20 Germany Arena Lviv, Lviv


[edit]
Group C
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 Group CTeam Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Republic of Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Croatia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 June 2012
18:00 UTC+2 Spain Match 5 Italy PGE Arena, Gdańsk

10 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Republic of Ireland Match 6 Croatia Municipal Stadium, Poznań

14 June 2012
18:00 UTC+2 Italy Match 13 Croatia Municipal Stadium, Poznań

14 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Spain Match 14 Republic of Ireland PGE Arena, Gdańsk

18 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Croatia Match 21 Spain PGE Arena, Gdańsk

18 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Italy Match 22 Republic of Ireland Municipal Stadium, Poznań


[edit]
Group D
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 Group DTeam Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Ukraine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 June 2012
19:00 UTC+3 France Match 7 England Donbass Arena, Donetsk

11 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Ukraine Match 8 Sweden Olympic Stadium, Kiev

15 June 2012
19:00 UTC+3 Ukraine Match 16 France Donbass Arena, Donetsk

15 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Sweden Match 15 England Olympic Stadium, Kiev

19 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 England Match 23 Ukraine Donbass Arena, Donetsk

19 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Sweden Match 24 France Olympic Stadium, Kiev


[edit]
Knockout phase
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 knockout stage Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final

21 June – Warsaw

Winner of Group A
27 June – Donetsk
Runner-up of Group B
Winner of quarter-final 1
23 June – Donetsk
Winner of quarter-final 3
Winner of Group C
1 July – Kiev
Runner-up of Group D
Winner of semi-final 1
22 June – Gdańsk
Winner of semi-final 2
Winner of Group B
28 June – Warsaw
Runner-up of Group A
Winner of quarter-final 2
24 June – Kiev
Winner of quarter-final 4
Winner of Group D

Runner-up of Group C



[edit]
Quarter-finals21 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Winner Group A Match 25 Runner-up Group B National Stadium, Warsaw

22 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Winner Group B Match 26 Runner-up Group A PGE Arena, Gdańsk

23 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Winner Group C Match 27 Runner-up Group D Donbass Arena, Donetsk

24 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Winner Group D Match 28 Runner-up Group C Olympic Stadium, Kiev


[edit]
Semi-finals27 June 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Winner Match 25 Match 29 Winner Match 27 Donbass Arena, Donetsk

28 June 2012
20:45 UTC+2 Winner Match 26 Match 30 Winner Match 28 National Stadium, Warsaw


[edit]
Final
Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 Final1 July 2012
21:45 UTC+3 Winner Match 29 Match 31 Winner Match 30 Olympic Stadium, Kiev


[edit]
Broadcasting
See also: UEFA Euro 2012 broadcasting rights

On January it was announced Telekomunikacja Polska and Orange have successfully completed the first phase of tests of the technology infrastructure and services to be provided during the competition, Connecting both the stadiums in Poland and the International Broadcasting Centre. Within the technology partnership framework, Polish Telecom and Orange have provided a complete data communication solution, which will ensure connectivity among over 20 locations in Poland (host cities, stadiums, hotels for UEFA representatives) and between Poland and Ukraine.[40]
[edit]
Miscellany
[edit]
Mascots

Slavek and Slavko

The mascot names were announced in December 2010 after voting on the UEFA website. Almost 40,000 votes were received, leading to the following result:[41]
Slavek and Slavko: 56% of votes
Siemko and Strimko: 29%
Klemek and Ladko: 15%
[edit]
Logo and slogan

The official logo for the tournament was unveiled at a special event at Mykhailivska Square, Kiev, on 14 December 2009. It takes its visual identity from Wycinanki or Vytynanky, traditional form of paper cutting practised in rural areas of Poland and Ukraine. The art form symbolises the nature of the rural areas of both countries.[42][43] As part of the event, landmark buildings in the eight host cities were illuminated with the tournament logo.[44] The competition slogan, "Creating History Together" (Polish: Razem tworzymy przyszłość, Ukrainian: Творимо історію разом / Tvorymo istoriyu razom), was announced along with the logo. The slogan reflects the fact that Poland and Ukraine represent the easternmost host nations in European Championship history.[42]
[edit]
Ticketing

Tickets were sold directly by UEFA via its website, or are to be distributed by the football associations of the 16 finalists. Applications had to be made during March 2011 for the 1.4 million tickets available for the 31 tournament matches.[45] Over 12 million applications were received, which represented a 17% increase on the 2008 finals, and an all-time record for the UEFA European Championship.[46] Owing to this over-subscription for the matches, lotteries were carried out to allocate tickets.

Prices varied from €30 (£25) (for a seat behind the goals at a group match) to €600 (£513) (for a seat in the main stand at the final). In addition to individual match tickets, fans could buy packages to see either all matches played by one team, or all matches at one specific venue.[47]
[edit]
Match ball
Main article: Adidas Tango 12

The official match ball for UEFA Euro 2012 is the Adidas Tango 12.
[edit]
Transportation

In preparation for the championship, the Kharkiv Metro is installing bilingual announcements -- Ukrainian and English -- on its trains. The announcements are due to start operating in April 2012. [48]
[edit]
Controversy

The FEMEN group protested against what they argue are moves being made by the Ukraine government to legalize prostitution during the championships.[49] The group asked UEFA and the Ukrainian government to create a social program devoted to the problem of sex tourism and prostitution in Ukraine; to inform football fans that prostitution is illegal in Ukraine; and to take additional steps to fight against prostitution and sex tourism.[50]

Additionally, Ukraine has come under criticism from animal welfare organizations for killing stray cats and dogs in order to prepare for Euro 2012. Cats and dogs are poisoned with illegal substances, shot or burned alive in a mobile crematorium.[51] In November 2011 the environment ministry urged mayors around the country to stop killing stray animals for half a year and build shelters instead, but it remains unclear how the ban would be enforced. The ministry's comments also seemed to suggest that the six-month ban was only a temporary measure, drawing further criticism.[52]