The Gdansk – Wroclaw race to build stadiums for Euro 2012 ended with a technical knockout for Wroclaw. At the beginning (i.e. in April) the pace in both cities was similar. In the autumn things were already going wrong and in the winter the contract for the construction of the stadium by a Polish and Greek consortium led by Mostostal Warsaw S.A. (Poland) was officially terminated. According to Rafal Dutkiewicz, mayor of Wroclaw, the contractor was unable to complete the construction in due time. Several months of delay in the schedule will be caused by the change of the contractor. A free-hand procedure will be applied in the selection of the new contractor in January. Anyway, Gdansk is going to have a new stadium before Wroclaw.

Ukrainian government allocates additional 100 million hryvna (1 hryvna= approx. 35 groszes) for the construction of the new international airport terminal in Lvov. The money will be returned as soon as an American company IMTEC – MEI LLC, who won the tender, starts building. The entire value of the project associated with the airport is estimated for 115 million euros. The investor (the Americans) is to manage the airport for 36 years.

NDI S.A., a Polish company that wants to build the Krakow – Lvov section of the highway fell into trouble (not to fulfilling their contractual obligations). The Ukrainians want to cancel the contract as they are dissatisfied with the Poles.

In Kiev, the official logo and slogan of Euro 2012 tournament was presented.

The unveiling of the logo was performed by UEFA President Michel Platini and the heads of Polish and Ukrainian football associations, Grzegorz Lato and Hryhoriy Surkis. At a ceremony in the centre of Kiev were also present representatives of Ukrainian authorities with President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The Euro 2012 logo reminds a flower. From the common stem there grows out a football and two flowers in the colours of the national flags of the two countries – Poland and Ukraine.
The official slogan is: ‘Creating History Together'.
One of the creators of the logo, a Portuguese graphic designer, Helder Pombinho, explained that the logo was based on associations of plant motifs in folk patterns of both countries. Below we present the logo to your evaluation.

The result of competition for the titular sponsor of the stadium in Gdansk (Baltic Arena) has been announced. It was won by  PGE -  Polish Energy Group. Starting from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2015 the sponsor is entitled to name the stadium - PGE Arena Gdansk. PGE will pay 5.25 million PLN in 2010 and in the next four years  approximately 7.44 million PLN for this pleasure. These will make a total of 35 million PLN. The new name will not be used during Euro 2012. So, this is a great deal for Gdansk. The city already gets the money for the stadium which does not yet exist. It is still not known how the new name will catch on with the fans. From the Internet blogs it is already evident that some supporters are going to arrive at the stadium ... Baltic Arena. It will probably be difficult to change the name already existing in common use. For many inhabitants of Gdansk the defeat of the second contestant  - the Lotos Group - is a great surprise.

Another dose of the Ukrainian state money will flow to the cities - organizers of Euro 2012. Kiev, Kharkov, Donetsk and Lvov will each get the equivalent of 136 million PLN (1 hryvna = approximately 35 Polish groszes).

The stadium in Poznan is not yet ready but the works on laying the new turf have already started. As it is clearly seen, grass can be planted even in December.

Ukrainian journalists got interested in the construction workers at the stadium in Lvov. As it turned out, working there are ... the Turks.

Somewhere around 6th December a group of Polish MP-s came up with an idea of tracking down  ‘secret’ managerial contracts of the PL.2012 company. They want the Parliamentary committee of sport to have a closer look at too high – in their opinion – pays in the contracts.

The new modernized Metalist Stadium was put into use in Kharkov. The stadium will be the arena of Euro 2012. This is the second stadium in Ukraine put into operation this year (Donbas Arena open in July).

Unfortunately, there was an accident at the construction site of the stadium in Warsaw in which two workers got killed  (due to a fall from the height).

By the end of the year Lvov will receive from the state 50 million hryvna (approx. 17 million PLN) for the construction of the stadium. The downside of Lvov is the airport, a good side - hotels. In the ranking of the preparations of Ukrainian cities Kharkov comes in the first place. They already have a stadium and the problems with the airport and hotels are being removed at present. In Donetsk there is a stadium, but the hotels and the airport are a problem. Donetsk is an industrial centre so it is not surprising that nobody from the outside wanted to fly there and sleep so far - hence the negligence. The city is one of the most polluted cities in Europe. In Kiev - the capital, it is obvious that everything will be the best and on time.

The opening match of Euro 2012 will be on 8th, rather than as a planned June 9th, 2012. The reason is - only one day of rest between the group phase, and quarterfinals.

A “deliberative survey” is a scientific concept presented to the public by the local authorities of the city of Poznan. The whole fun lies in determining the future of the municipal stadium (the arena of Euro 2012). The discussion involved a variety of backgrounds - from intentionally chosen people (the representative group) to sports activists and state officials. The only difference between deliberation and divination is that at the end of the first one there will be the real money and the investor.

UEFA announced the rules of dividing football teams into the “pots” needed during the elimination draw for Euro 2012. The draw and division of the groups will be held on 7 February in Warsaw. In the ranking carried out immediately after the qualifications for the World Cup in South Africa were included the results of the eliminations of the World Cup 2006, Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 as well as the World Cup 2006 and Euro 2008 finals. Poland took the 23rd place in the ranking with 26,620 points, which means that it would be in the third pot. Because we host  Euro 2012, we  will not have to play in the qualifications (fortunately!). Like the Ukrainians, who are in the 19th position in the ranking.

In the first pot, made up of nine top teams there are in turn: the current European champion - Spain, then Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France and Russia. There will be nine qualification groups. For the championship, apart from Poland and Ukraine, will qualify directly the winners of all groups and one runner-up with the best scores. The remaining eight second places will form 4 pairs for extra qualification matches.

The division into the pots by the UEFA rankings:

Pot 1:
Germany
The Netherlands
Italy
Spain
England
France
Croatia
Portugal
Russia

Pot 2:
Greece
Serbia
Switzerland
Sweden
Czech Republic
Turkey
Denmark
Slovakia
Romania

Pot 3:
Israel
Bulgaria
Finland
Norway
Ireland
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
(Poland and Ukraine would be in the third pot, but these teams already are at Euro 2012)

Pot 4:
Slovenia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Belarus
Belgium
Cyprus
Wales

Pot 5:
Montenegro
Albania
Estonia
Georgia
Moldova
Armenia
Iceland
Kazakhstan
Liechtenstein

Pot 6:
Azerbaijan
Luxembourg
Malta
Faeroe Islands
San Marino
Andorra

High officials – who is it? That is the Executive Director and Director of the UEFA (D. Taylor and M. Kallen). They paid visits to four cities in Ukraine. And for what?. After all, you know it well ... (as you read our football news).

Someone got round to it and counted accurately. 662 million - so much has the price of the National Stadium in Warsaw risen. The exact price of the stadium - see our tab PL / UA fotobudowy.

There are cracks and trials connected with the decision who is to be operator of stadiums for Euro 2012 (Wroclaw, Gdansk). There are various temptations and stalking. We will let you know the final results. At the time being, a possibility of  acquiring the naming rights of the stadium in Gdansk (Baltic Arena) has been announced. The sponsor / buyer will have the right to use their own name (as the name of the stadium) for a period of 5 years. The name will not be in use during Euro 2012 (only titular sponsors of Euro 2012 will have such rights).

A division of the main sponsors of the European Football championships is as follows: four for Poland, four Ukrainian ones and the next ten of the global range. The business is worth the battle. The previous Euro 2008 matches were watched by... 6.6 billion people, i.e. the whole world (of course, television viewers were counted several times – as they were watching the matches). Their shares in the advertising pie will also have local sponsorship companies appointed by the cities – organizers of the championships (four for each city).

The Polish police already have the slogan for Euro 2012: care, tolerance and suppression. (In Polish it’s three T-s which stand for: troska, tolerancja, tłumienie.) Groups of spotters (i.e. people working within the most aggressive football fan groups) are currently being formed. Their actions are intended to help prevention. Aggressive fans will be under monitoring before they even come up with anything wrong.

Arrive in Lenin Square. Not now, of course, but in 2012, in Donetsk. The main Euro 2012 fan zone of the city will be organized there. Those who want to sleep cheap (after or before the match) will be directed to the exhibition centre Donbas. Double rooms will be prepared there. In addition, accommodation can be found at a military college and at boarding schools. And, as the last solution – a tent near the city close to its access routes. This is going to be a nice piece of a festival – Woodstock Ukraine 2012! A lot of things will happen…

In Wroclaw, there has been announced a contest for the name of the street where the stadium for Euro 2012 is being built.

A residential centre for Euro 2012 worth 39 million PLN will be built in Ostroda (a sports and recreational complex). Its central part will be a football pitch. Other attractions will be: tennis courts, a year-round ice rink and a climbing wall.

Rinat Akhmetov , a Ukrainian oligarch and owner of Shakhtar Donetsk, has warned that if the referees are unfair in the matches, they may get knocked by him. Rinat used to be a professional boxer. The statement was issued exactly after another billionaire Ukrainian, Ihor Kolomyjsky, got into a quarrel with the referees after a lost match of FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

The cost of building the National Stadium in Warsaw has changed. The new data file: - a stadium in Warsaw – number of objects: 1, - the cost: 1. 914 billion PLN.

Lech Poznan and Olympique Marseilles are going to play in the opening match of the renovated stadium in Poznan (in summer 2010).

Polish and Ukrainian antiterrorist troops were training in Kiev an action of recapturing from a plane hostages taken by a group of violent football fans. It was not stated where the fans were supposed to be from. At the moment we would bet on ... Polish fans pissed off after another performance of the Polish national team. However, till Euro 2012 the situation may change and maybe we won’t have to get frustrated after our matches. Let’s hope...

Oleksandr Shevchenko (not to be confused with Andriy Shevchenko, a 33-year-old striker of Dynamo Kiev), Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, assured that 4 Ukrainian cities are ready for Euro 2012.

The first issue of a free publication, “Lechista”, has been published. It is the first step in Lechia Gdansk propaganda aimed at doing good PR before opening the stadium in Gdansk (Baltic Arena). The team from Gdansk is going to play at this stadium.

Lechia SA (the owner of Lechia Gdansk) signed an agreement with Sportfive (a sports marketing company). Together the two companies are more likely to become the operator of the stadium in Gdansk (Baltic Arena). All contracts of Lechia Gdansk with the city of Gdansk will be dealt with by Sportfive A new body called Lechia Operator (with 100% participation of Lechia SA) is to be created with the perspectives of getting into the Baltic Arena business... The city of Gdansk is not very happy about those plans.

The roof construction weighing 1 400 tonnes is being raised in Poznan. Is it heavy? It weighs as much as 350 adult African elephants. So, it is not so easy. It is already known that the deadline of completing the stadium in June 2010 is rather unrealistic. Autumn is more probable. The inaugural match will take place not earlier than in a year, then.

The opening match in Baltic Arena in Gdansk in spring 2011 will be played by Juventus Turin and Lechia Gdansk.

Polish cities, the hosts of Euro 2012, lack cheap accommodation. It is estimated that on the day of a match as many fans as twice the capacity of the stadium may come to the city. In Gdansk, it could be even up to 100 thousand tourists-fans.

Ukraine has changed its system of telephone prefixes, both landline and mobile. Now we dial 8 instead of 0. Calling Donbas Arena so far we had to dial 8-062..., and now it’s only 0-62.... Easier and just the same as in all Europe.

Another contract for the road construction has been signed in Poland. We already have 1292 km of fast roads (817 km of motorways and 475 km of expressways). A Polish motorway reminds something of a coitus interruptus: you only just start speeding when you have to finish. For example, let’s take a motorway section of 90 km – driving at the statutory speed of 110 km/h we will cover it in 54 minutes and that’s it – the end of the ride...

Nearly 300 items includes the Master Plan, e.g. a schedule of investments related to Euro 2012. That’s quite a lot.

The first 20-tonned prefabricated “tiny-little-things” have begun to arrive at the National Stadium in Warsaw. They will be elements of the grandstands-to-be.

The great project “My Football Pitch Orlik 2012” is to be considered a priority by the Ministry of Sports. Like everything which is associated with sport up to now. Why don’t they do away with the priorities and just start doing something instead? ... simply do it well.

A repair of the railway line between Poznan and Gdansk has started. For Euro 2012 the whole line should be able to handle passenger traffic with the average speed of 100-129 km/h. We will believe it, but to be sure, let’s better change the message about the expected speed: the speed of 100-129 km per ... 2 hours. Better be careful what they say or else it can be checked one day (somewhere in 2012).

A meeting of Euro 2012 directors took place in Kiev. M. Kallen from UEFA, A. Olkowicz from Poland and M. Lubkivsky from Ukraine were present. The aim of the meeting was to create a so called team-building, e.g. a system of fast communication between each other and between the participating countries.

“Nothing wrong has happened, really, nothing wrong” – this is what Euro organizers and Polish Football Association (PZPN) said after the resignation of Polish Minister of Sports, Miroslaw (Miro) Drzewiecki.

There are problems in counting up the hotel places required for the participants of Euro 2012 in Kiev. The City Council has its own list and UEFA has its own figures. The emotions even rose up after a rumour that a new hotel is going to be built in Babi Yar (it’s a place of massive executions at the time of WW2). There are 63 appropriate hotels in Kiev now. 6 new ones will be built. VIPs who will come to the championships in Ukraine are only interested in 4- and 5-star hotels which Ukraine is lacking the most. It is estimated that on the day of the final match 7000 rooms of the highest standard will be needed. There are plans to provide cheaper private rooms for the less well-off fans. It’s OK as far as “innostrantsy” (strangers) from Poland are concerned. They will know what the famous eastern hospitality means and how to deal with home brew. They will also manage somehow to get to the stadium without using the public transport. As for the “western” fans, there might be fears that they will get lost completely or ... will not get sober on time under such conditions... Well, we will see.

The first person in UEFA (concerning his knowledge and ability to estimate the preparations to Euro 2012), M. Kallen has warned the Ukrainians before December 11th. The decision in how many Ukrainian cities Euro 2012 matches will take place is going to be made on that day. The highest risks are still connected with the hotels and airports.

An Erection Act has been built in on a building site of the National Stadium in Warsaw. It’s a year since the demolition of the old stadium started.

The seats in Baltic Arena stadium in Gdansk for Euro 2012 will be in the colour of green amber. Originally, according to the project it was to be yellow and red amber. Lechia Gdansk supporters stood up against those plans and... they won.

A million army of football fans is going to set out to Poland (and Ukraine as well) in 2012. Some of them will need to stay overnight after the football battle in the stadium. UEFA is withdrawing a little and softening its demands concerning the hotels. 3-star hotels within 2-hours drive from the airport will also be taken into account. In Gdansk, where apart from group games a quarter-final will also take place, as many as about 3200 guest rooms will be needed. Heavy traffic is expected within about 150 km radius around Gdansk. Residential centres for national teams are still an open issue.

The star of Gdansk and other cities – organizers of Euro 2012 will shine out on February 7th 2010 in Warsaw when a draw up of the elimination groups of the European Football Championships Euro 2012 will take place. Then it will fade a little till June 2010 (Mundial in South Africa) and afterwards it will shine out brightly till the summer of 2012.

Ukrainian Minister of Sport, Jurij Pawlenko paid a visit in Lvov after the “secret” UEFA reports concerning delays in the building of the Lvov stadium leaked out to the media. After the control he stated that it is not as bad.
In Kolomyja in Ukraine an artist painter with an interesting idea has shown up. He painted (drew) an icon of the God’s Mother and Jesus with a football on the golden background. Beneath there is a football pitch with national emblems of Poland and Ukraine. This is not a joke at all. The piece of art is to serve as a promotion of Ukrainian culture and a chance of meeting with the art of icons.

In Polish Tourist Organization (POT) they are rubbing their hands thinking of the year 2012. It’s because of the tourist promotion of the country (with Gdansk, of course). It’s not a surprise – we haven’t had such an event in the whole 1000-year-lasting history. POT is going to concentrate on the unique national features and on presenting contemporary Poland.

The TV from Qatar, Al-Jazzire bought TV rights to broadcast Euro 2012. They will broadcast the Champions League and European League to the Middle East and North Africa.

Another control raid was made on Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan. A crew of three UEFA people dealing with stadiums management gave their opinions on the functions of specific rooms in the rising stadiums. Fortunately, no losses in people or equipment have been reported.

Ivan Vasiunyk, deputy prime minister of Ukraine was doing his best to convince a group of diplomats that Euro 2012 will take place in four Ukrainian cities. As a positive example he gave hotel investments. So far the necessary procedures could take even up to 2 years. Now, one can get through them in two months (and without bribing anybody).

Racism Monitoring Centre for Eastern Europe will be established in Warsaw. The Centre is an element of UEFA project whose aim is- among the others - fight against racism in stadiums, education and monitoring.

More and more frequently activists and businessmen start talking about Euro 2012 in the context of a “civilization leap”. Though, businessmen are far more self-contained, they prefer to talk about investments and revenues. It’s hardly surprising. There have been cases through history when after a “civilization leap” people remained in torn trousers.

There are 35 five-star hotels in Poland (there are 1745 altogether) and 136 four-star (they offer 152400 overnight stays).
The rest ones are one-, two- and three-star hotels, but UEFA is not interested in them.

On August 1st an amendment to the act on the safety of mass events comes into life in Poland. It's main aim it to tighten the regulations and to fight against stadium hooligans. A football fan will be allowed to buy only one ticketwith his name on (and only with the supporter's card). The new rules are in the accordance with preparations for Euro 2012.

German experts want to help Ukraine  in the field of health protection. That is why they exchanged mutual visits. As it seems, there won't be an area connected with organization of championship without a "German thread".

The renovation of old districts of the city of Lviv will bu financed by the goverment of... Germany. The project is connected with Euro 1012. 4 mln euro are directed to renovate the old town. Thanks to a similar program in Romania, Romanian Sibiu and Timisoara had been renovated at the cost of 100 mln euros.

Google Map edited a detailed map of Lviv. It seems they alredy know that Euro 2012 is going to take place in four Ukrainian cities. We also firmly believe in it.

Poland has become a leader in the handling of air traffic. We have 50 airports (as many as Spain). The problem is that 50% of them belong to the army. A real boom in flying started after 2004, when Poland joined the European Union. Everyone started do fly here. Apparently even American planes with detainees terrorists on the board, but no one said a word, no one heard, and no one saw anything in that matter. One thing is certain, however. Euro 2012 will increase the importance of regional airports, especially the airports in Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw.

Another Martin Kallen's (UEFA Director) controlled raid to Ukraine. Positive. Jurij Pawlenko (Ukrainian Minister of Sport) is glad.

The construction of the stadium in Lviv goes into 24 hour cycle. The reason - delay. They'll make it.

Polish Supreme Chamber of Control and Ukrainian Court of Audit carried out parallel controls of the organization of Euro 2012 preparations. Generally, everything is OK, but... the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Infrastructure, Ministry of Interior and Administration got reprimanded.

There're over 1000 days left before Euro 2012 but TV teams hired by UEFA have already started filming here and there in Poland and Ukraine. The films will be used during Euro 2012 championships. That is the organization!

A survey showing how many Poles and Polish women want to watch the Euro 2102 stadiums was made. The result is amazing - several million! This means that the biggest event in a thousand years of Polish history is going to be a giant media occasion.

Touts selling tickets for Euro 1012 have already appeared. Of course it's a scam. During Euro 2008 large group of people drew up - and they paid even several hundred thousand euros for false tickets!!

Work continues on the choice of 16 residentials centers for Euro 2012. They will be put in the UEFA catalogue and sent to 53 football federations. The residentials are a requirement of UEFA.
By the end of 2009 a short-list of 30 candidating centers will be announced. For now, there are 50 candidates.

PKP - Polish Railways are talking with the Austrians on the possibility of installing a system enabling trains to move at speeds of 200 km/h. So far, there are sections where our trains can be overtaken by a good cyclist. But as they say - it's always worth to talk.

400 people and 12 cranes are working on the construction site of the stadium in Wroclaw. On the construction of the Baltic Arena stadium in Gdansk there are 400 people and 8 cranes. It can't be hidden - they are better by 4 cranes.

Donbass Arena - a new stadium for Euro 2012 was opened in Donetsk. Rinat Achmetow, a billionaire who is the owner and investor of the stadium, said that this was the most beautiful day in his life.

In Kharkiv, they calculated that they have already spent about one billion Hryvna (or some 400 million zlotys) on the investments related to EURO 2012.

Altogether Ukraine intends to spend on these  investment 127 billion Hryvna. 26% of this amount will come from the state budget, 5% from the local authorities and the rest, e.g. 69% from the private investors. Ukraine is a country of really wealthy people.

Ministry of Infrastructure has announced that in 2012 we will go from Gdansk to the south border with Czechs using the A1 highway (560 km).  Assuming that the highway is not built by the ministry and that they will not hinder the construction - it is possible (although we are still afraid that  we will lack one piece of the highway to complete).

“Members of the  PL.2012 joint venture begin a visit to Ukraine, whose main purpose is to strengthen the Polish - Ukrainian cooperation related to the preparations for Euro 2012.” This quote does not come from  the executive labour leaders meeting from the fifties, but from the newspapers printed in July 2009. It seems history likes to repeat itself (often in strange ways and places).

Three members of the PL.2012 managing board were paid extra L 110 846 (net) premium.

The Poles strongly support the actions of Lviv. There will be two sports fields for youth opened (financed by the Polish government). During the visit of the Polish Deputy Prime Minister,  Minister of Sport and Minister of Foreign Affairs they declared to facilitate the Ukrainians in the so called “little border traffic”  (the deal will be put into life on  July 1st  this year). Poland closes consulates in other countries and opens 2 new ones in Ukraine. We strongly cheer for Ukraine.

Platini paid a visit to Poland. He was at the stadiums building sites. He is pleased at what he has seen and sure we will manage on time.

A Ukrainian billionaire and president of football club FC Metalist Kharkiv - Oleksandr Yaroslavsky,  became  coordinator of preparations for the finals of Euro 2012. The oligarch not only works at modernizing his own stadium in Kharkov, but is also an executive investor (a group of DCH) of the local airport.   So no one else could be the coordinator.    Kharkiv  - the 1.5 million - city does not have five-star hotels. Every country has its own peculiarities.

The foundation stone for the construction of a new stadium was laid in Wroclaw.

In a few weeks Gdansk will answer with laying the foundation stone for the construction of Baltic Arena. (They will not lay the foundation stone in Wroclaw without doing the same in Gdansk! That’s the matter of honour.)

The building of the National Stadium in Warsaw is to be completed by April 30th 2011. According to a signed contract, for each day of delay the contractor (Hydrobudowa / Alpine) will pay L 100 000 fine a day, and after 14 days the rate for each day of delay is increased to 1 million. The conclusion can be the only one - the stadium will be opened on April 30th  2011, not later.

A local sponsor is a new concept in the European football championships. Local sponsors  selected by the city organizing the tournament will be able to officially advertise. The city will earn, the sponsor will gain. The maximum number of sponsors per one city – four. Generally, all the organizational and promotional  issues are still dealt with by UEFA. The main person in this area is the Swiss, Martin Kallen (UEFA director for Euro 2012). Led by him company knows everything and takes care of everything ...

After the aquarium in Wroclaw, we have “Maltese thermas”  in Poznan. These will be major new attractions in the cities organizers of Euro 2012 championships. “Maltese thermas”  is a complex for recreation and sports in the area of  Malta Lake in Poznan.