Poland wants to set a new deadline for the construction of their Euro 2012 stadiums.

Since Poland won the right in April to co-host the event with Ukraine, early euphoria has been replaced by growing concerns it may not prepare new grounds and upgrade inadequate infrastructure in time.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA says the tournament co-hosts must build the necessary stadiums by mid-2010.

“We need additional time and the year 2011 will be the most suitable,” Jakubiak told a news conference.

The surprising choice of Poland and Ukraine as co-hosts ahead of Italy was originally touted by the Polish government as an opportunity to put the country on the international soccer map.

But a growing number of critics say Poland might have taken on a near-impossible task.

“Beside the announcement, nothing has been done so far,” said Zbigniew Chlebowski, deputy head of the parliamentary finance committee and a member of the opposition Civic Platform party.

“There are also no ideas where to get the money from to finance the huge projects.”

Poland is estimated to need about three billion zlotys ($1.09 billion) to build or restructure four main Euro 2012 stadiums.

WARSAW HEADACHE

The planned national stadium in the capital Warsaw has proved the biggest headache.

The new ground is to be built at a dilapidated communist-era stadium now being used as Europe’s largest outdoor market, with Jakubiak saying hundreds of traders will be asked to leave by mid-September.

Polish authorities have not decided whether the old stadium will be razed or if a new facility will be built next to the old one to save time.

The transport ministry also estimates it will need 164 billion zlotys to build 2,400-km (1,500-miles) of motorway to prepare for the tournament.

Only six kilometres of motorway was built last year and none so far this year.

Source: reuters.com

Stadium in Donieck will be the first arena of Euro 2012 which will come into use. Its opening is expected to be in July next year- announced the representative of city council Aleksander Gromakow during the conference of Polish-Ukrainian Self-Government Forum Euro 2012.

‘It will be the biggest and the most modern object in the eastern part of Europe. A roof made of glass will be its main feature. Apart from the stunning visual effect it is also a practical solution because it has a good effect on the grass preservation’- said Gromakow.

Stadium is patterned on the modernized Benfica’s object in Lisbon. It will hold 55 thousand spectators and its building cost is estimated on 250 million dollars.

‘There will be cafes, restaurants, fast foods and places where one could relax on the area around the stadium. This area will be available for everyone and everyday. So if a family comes to watch a match but a wife doesn’t want to watch it she can spend time visiting one of the facilities around the stadium’- added Gromakow.

So in the next year a new stadium in Dnipropietrovsk is expected to come into use.

‘Conversion of stadium in Charkov is finished in 90 percent. UEFA can add this city to the group of organizers’- said Andrij Mikitiw expert for stadiums in the Ukrainian Football Federation.

Over 60 people, representatives of cities-hosts Euro 2012, the Ukrainian police, Polish embassy in Kiev and the staff of football federation from both countries took part in the conference of Self-Government Forum which lasted a few days in Dnipropietrovsk and Donieck and finished on Saturday.

To build a stadium for 30-40 thousand people two, or two and half a year is enough- said in the interview of ‘Rzeczpospolita’ Heinz Palme, the chairman of company ‘Austria przy Pilce’ which coordinates preparations of Austria to Euro 2008 finals.

– Every organizer of championships has a similar problem as Poland. We also have elections and changes of government. In Klagenfurt we managed to begin works at the last moment because first environmentalists protested, politicians quarreled and then documentation concerning a tender leaked out to the press and a court had to intervene. UEFA demands building of stadium for one year before the sports event- we can work longer on its infrastructure- but it’s understanding.

-All stadiums apart from the one in Vienna have capacity of 30-40 thousand. Two and half a year for building such object is enough. In Zurich we managed to do it in two years- added Austrian.

– I think that stadiums aren’t the major problem of Poland and Ukraine. They will be built for sure. Instead of that we should worry about roads, airports, ect. In reply to a question concerning problems during preparations to the world championships in Germany Palme thinks that comparison to Germany isn’t a good idea.

– They hit on idea to do the 2006 World Cup in the mid-90s and started doing plans.

Besides they had Beckenbauer who managed to organize everything and had experts such as Secretary-General of German Football Federation Horst Schmidt who has been send to save the World Cup in the Republic of South Africa. Palme is surprised that Poles want to economize on expensive help from abroad.

–Experts are very expensive. We spend amounts of money which run into millions of euro, but it’s worth. We pay to save on something else. Ask for help is not a shame. Even Germany asked me Austrian for help. It wasn’t easy for them because managers especially those from Bundesliga were convicted that they did everything the best in the world and they didn’t need advice.