Platini said, “Today is another milestone on the road to EURO. We have already had mascots being unveiled, then the start of the ticket process and from today fans are applying for them. More key dates will be announced soon.”
“Most of the requests will come from Poland and Ukraine and I’m really happy about that, as it shows that the people in the host nations are very interested in the event,” he added.
The final tournament of the 14th UEFA European Football Championship will be held in Poland and Ukraine from June 8, to July 1, 2012. It will be the third time that the final tournament is jointly hosted by two countries.
Sixteen national teams will compete in a total of 31 matches held in eight different cities to crown the 2012 European champions. The format of four groups of four teams will be used for the last time in this tournament. The competition format will change for the next edition in 2016 as the lineup of participants competing in the final tournament will be increased to 24.
The UEFA EURO 2012 matches will be played in eight stadiums, four in Poland – Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw – and four in Ukraine – Donetsk, Lviv, Kharkiv and Kyiv. The opening match will take place in Warsaw on June 8 and the final on July 1, in Kyiv. Over 1.4 million fans are expected at the stadiums and they will also be broadcast live around the world.
The next announcement will be on March 31, when sales of EURO 2012 tickets, will be conducted exclusively via www.UEFA.com . “EURO started today,” said Zbigniew Boniek, on stage alongside fellow EURO ambassador Andrzej Szarmach and Polish Football Federation (PZPN) president Grzegorz Lato. Boniek and Szarmach have been designated as Poland’s EURO-2012 Soccer Ambassadors.
Szarmach, veteran of three FIFA World Cup finals said, “Everything is moving in the right direction, work is progressing well and I believe this will be a great tournament. The temperature for football is rising in Poland. There is already a lot of excitement.”
“My own home town of Gdansk is changing at a fast pace and the opportunity to show it in the best possible light to visitors as well as the Polish football fans is an added motivation. As sportsmen we are most interested in the venues. Watching the stadium being built is exciting, because it will be a beautiful place. But it’s not only the stadium that is attractive – Gdansk’s city center and the whole tri-city area in Poland is becoming more appealing,” Szarmach added.
Next summer will also be the 30 year anniversary since the Polish National Team finished third at the 1982 World Cup.
The UEFA Congress will be held in Paris, France on March 21-22, with senior representatives from UEFA’s 53 member national associations voting on a variety of issues.
Current UEFA president Michel Platini will be running unopposed for re-election. There will be seven new members voted to the Executive Committee. One of the 13 candidates is Grzegorz Lato, a former Polish international player. He has been president of the Polish Football Association since October of 2008. Lato said, “It has been over 40 years since Poland was last represented on the UEFA Executive Committee. Lesek Rylski was the last Polish representative. I have decided that now is the time to make good use of my experience as a player and administrator and stand for the coming election.”
The Polish Football Association (PZPN) has announced that they will implement a new corporate identity program to help market the 2012 Euro Cup and the national programs.
Jacek Urbanczyk contributed