What to do while in Ukraine

BERLIN — A top German official is urging European governments to boycott Euro2012 soccer championship matches in Ukraine to protest the detention of the country’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen told German tabloid Bild’s Monday edition that the “dictatorship” of Ukraine must not be able to use the June championship to prop up its image without reforms. Bild quoted Roettgen as saying that he thinks “visits by ministers or prime ministers are beyond question under the current circumstances.” Roettgen’s remarks were confirmed to The Associated Press on Sunday by his spokeswoman Julika Lendvai. They were the first call by a top European government minister to avoid the matches. “The Ukrainian government should immediately release Ms. Tymoshenko to freedom,” he was further quoted as saying. The Ukrainian opposition leader is serving a seven-year prison sentence on charges of abusing her powers as prime minister in negotiating a...

 With only a month until the football kicks off, can Ukraine limit the damage done by terrorist attacks and corruption scandals? Beaten female prisoners, hunger strikes, and terrorist attacks – surely this is not the backdrop that organisers or Ukrainian football fans imagined for the Euro 2012 football championship that Ukraine is due to co-host with Poland in just over a month. Yet this is where Ukraine finds itself after four explosions in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk injured at least 27 people today, while former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko has begun a hunger strike after an incident in prison where she claims that prison officials kicked her in the stomach while taking her to the hospital by force. All this adds up to a chaotic scene ahead of an event that Ukrainian authorities hoped would draw tourists to the country for a month-long celebration of the beautiful game. The blasts, which targeted a tram stop, a cinema and a railway station, happened in...

FOUR EXPLOSIONS in the home town of Ukraine’s jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko have injured 27 people just weeks before the country co-hosts the Euro 2012 football championship. The bombs exploded in quick succession yesterday around the city of Dnipropetrovsk in what officials called a suspected “terrorist attack”. “For us, this is the latest challenge for the whole country,” said President Viktor Yanukovich. “We will think how to respond properly. I think we will manage. It is sad that this happened.” Dnipropetrovsk is not a host city for Euro 2012, which starts in six weeks in Ukraine and Poland. It is a major industrial hub about 250km from Donetsk and Kharkiv, which between them will stage games involving England, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Portugal, among others. “This issue needs to be treated with the utmost seriousness,” said Polish prime minister Donald Tusk. “An attack in our region is something that is very rare and the Euro 2012 con...

England   interim   manager   Stuart   Pearce   is   convinced   his   country can   thrive   at   Euro  2012  even   though   it   is   without   a   permanent boss   less   than   two   months   before   the   tournament   starts . Pearce   has   been   England ' s   temporary   coach   since   Fabio Capello ' s   resignation   in   February   following   a   row   with   the Football   Assocation   over   its   decision   to   strip   John   Terry   of   the national   team   captaincy   without   consulting   the   Italian . Tottenham   manager   Harry   Redknapp   is   widely   regarded   as   the leading   candidate   to   takeover ,...

Anti reclame on NED-1  and  NED-2  to hold men at home in Netherlands. Don not let him go to Ukraine EURO 2012. http://www.nle.nl/ Hou 'm thuis. EURO 2012 Nederlandse Energie Maatschappij. According to the official,  “the Ukrainian Ambassador to the Netherlands has already met with representatives of the local football federation, who are sponsored by the company responsible for releasing the commercial.” Dikusarov stressed that the Royal Dutch Football Association  “strongly condemned”  the ad and assured the Ambassador that they weren’t aware of its production.  The Ukrainian women are renowned for their looks, with a recent survey from Traveller’s Digest calling the female residents of the capital Kiev the most beautiful on the planet. The Netherlands were drawn in, the so-called ‘Group of Death’, at Euro 2012. They’ll hold their games against the strong teams Germany, Portugal and Denmark in the Ukrainian ci...

Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine may find themselves in real trouble if their number one keeper Aleksandr Shovkovsky’s injury proves to be serious. Shovkovsky damaged his shoulder in Dynamo Kiev’s against Volyn in the Ukrainian league and may well be out of the European Championships, which kick off on June 8. “It’s serious,”  Yury Semin, Dynamo’s coach, said of his man’s injury. Shovkovsky is to go to Germany for a medical examination, but according to the Kiev team’s goalkeeper trainer, Mikhail Mikhailov, the 37-year-old is sure to miss at least three weeks. The veteran goalie has played 90 games for his country, conceding 73 goals. Shovkovsky was in goal when Ukraine reached the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup in 2006. The Ukrainians have lost two of their other first-choice keepers since the start of the year, with Shakhtar’s Aleksandr Rybka getting a two-year ban for doping and Andrey Dikan suffering a serious facial injury keeping goal for Spartak Moscow in the Rus...

Are England actually fielding lions in EURO 2012? Will crossing our fingers help our tournament prospects? Happy St George’s Day to you and yours by the way!

Carlsberg, official sponsor of UEFA EURO 2012™, is launching its new global television commercial, which inspires football fans to show their passion for their team, as the summer's biggest football tournament approaches. Join us at  http://www.facebook.com/Carlsberg

Poland's national stadium, where Euro 2012 kicks off in two months, cleared a new hurdle on Tuesday with its first ever club game, pitting Polish league leaders Legia Warsaw against Spanish side Sevilla. The friendly, which ended 2-0 for the Spanish side, was seen by the stadium management as a way for the staff to hone their skills. Drawing 20,000 supporters, it followed the 58,000-capacity arena's February 29 footballing debut, a sell-out friendly between Poland and Portugal that was hailed as a logistical success. Co-hosts Poland kick off the European Championship against Greece on June 8 at the stadium in the heart of the capital. But with concerns about hooliganism running high, matches between Polish clubs have so far been off limits at the 1.9-billion-zloty (453m euro, $591m) ground. Police have underlined the need to improve the security-communications system for higher-risk games. The stadium had been due to make its debut on February 11, hosting the Super Cup between...

Ukraine - which will host Euro 2012 in June together with Poland - has urged fans to get vaccinated against measles before visiting as the country gets to grips with fears of a mass epidemic. "If you plan to come to Ukraine, please get vaccinated at home," Oleksandr Kravchuk, deputy head of the state sanitary and epidemiological service, told the Kiev Post. "The situation with measles is unfavourable in our country." The European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control, a European Union agency in charge of fighting infectious diseases, reported a measles outbreak in the former Soviet republic last month with over 5,000 cases registered. The outbreak was concentrated in the western part of the country bordering on Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. "The epidemic is expected to accelerate and spread geographically during the peak transmission season for measles from February to June," ECDC said. The news is yet another blow to Ukraine's hopes of boosting ...

On top of outrageously priced hotel rooms and the prospect of seeing dogs burned alive in the streets, those attending Euro 2012 will also have the added fun of potentially catching an infectious virus. The European Centre of Didease Prevention and control reported 5,000 cases of measles in the Ukraine during the last month, and officials are urging football fans to get their vaccinations up to date before they arrive at the tournament which begins in 50 days time: "If you plan to come to Ukraine, please get vaccinated at home," Oleksandr Kravchuk, deputy head of the state sanitary and epidemiological service, told the Kiev Post. "The situation with measles is unfavourable in our country." If you're travelling to the tournament and need to schedule some vaccinations, be sure to put a considerable wedge of cash aside for the aforementioned overpriced hotels too. It's been reported that a one-star hotel in Donetsk is asking for $1,600 for a room on the evenin...

Supporters will enjoy extensive and innovative opportunities to follow UEFA EURO 2012 across all media platforms following the successful conclusion of agreements with broadcast partners. As well as reinforcing and increasing awareness of the brand values of UEFA and the UEFA European Football Championship, the prime objective when negotiating the sale of media rights is to maximize the distribution and visibility of tournaments. This has been achieved for UEFA EURO 2012 with partners providing a depth of multi-media coverage. They are able to activate a broad portfolio of rights, exploited across all media platforms, including television – both free-toair and pay TV – internet and mobile on a linear and on-demand basis. This platform-neutral approach will ensure maximum exposure for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, while at the same time providing broadcast partners with increased value and flexibility for their programming. UEFA EURO ...

Important lesson for all who travel to Ukraine for the Euros in a couple of months: don’t kick stuff. A couple of local gents in Dnepropetrovsk had a bit too much of the lager and when jaunting about town, decided to kick one of the giant display balls, which then smashed into pieces. Not having the requisite capital to replace the ball, they were  “publicly shamed”  as punishment. They duo were forced to stand by the broken symbol of the European football championships for nearly 24 hours, holding banners, which said: “I’m a complete idiot – I broke the Euro 2012 ball” in their hands. The ITAR-TASS news agency says the local police claim “the men, chose such punishment themselves.” This is an excellent idea for the tournament, really, and should be spread generously across the sport to include diving, time-wasting, tactics which sit ten men behind the ball at all times and David Villa’s facial hair.

Ticketing 1.4 million  the total number of tickets available for sale, and 85% the percentage allocated to fans 12,149,425 ticket applications received between 1 and 31 March 2011206 countries and territories from which ticket requests were made€50 the price of the cheapest ticket for the final – rising to €600 for the most expensive Volunteers 5,500 volunteers will be appointed to assist UEFA’s staff in 20 different areas23,965  applications were submitted by candidates from 142 different countries54% of applications came from women TV 150 million  is the expected live TV audience for each match200  territories are expected to broadcast UEFA EURO 2012 around the world Transport network750km of motorways have been constructed in Poland since 2007 1,500km of roads have been built and reconstructed in Ukraine since 2007 Double the capacity of t...

UEFA has announced two changes to the Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2010–12, related to abandoned matches and friendly international fixtures scheduled in the run-up to the tournament. Paragraph 10.08 has been amended and paragraph 10.09 added to stipulate that if a match is abandoned, only the remaining part of the game must be completed the following day – unless the case is referred to the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body. If it cannot be completed the following day, the UEFA administration will take a final decision. Players substituted or sent off in the abandoned match may not be included on the match sheet when it re-starts. And those players in play at the time of the abandonment may not be included as substitutes when the match is resumed. Teams can make only the number of substitutions available to them when the game was abandoned. The other decision refers to paragraph 2.08, which prohibits teams...

Accommodating all the fans who will be travelling to Poland and Ukraine this summer has proved a challenge for the authorities in both countries, but one they have responded to with vigour. Poland has met UEFA’s requirements in full, while in Ukraine building is continuing apace.In both countries, massive strides have been made to meet the challenge of UEFA EURO 2012. In Poland, Warsaw built 30 new hotels between 2008 and 2010; in Gdansk that number increases to 42; in Wroclaw 11 new hotels provide an additional 980 rooms; and Poznan has 6 new hotels. Ukraine too has risen to the challenge. In Kyiv 5 hotels with 200 rooms or more have been built, adding 1,217 rooms in all, and 7 hotels have been built in Kharkiv. Lviv and the neighbouring area of Truskavets – a touristic destination – already has a well-developed hotel infrastructure and is considering using spas to accommodate fans. In addition, accommodation in areas surrounding the host cities in Ukraine will be used to meet the de...

The UEFA Executive Committee decided in 2007 to allow Poland and the Ukraine to co-host this year’s European Football tournament, because they never have before, so maybe they’d try to impress. Sixteen teams will compete at Euro 12 from June 8 through July 1 at the Donbass Arena Stadium in Donetsk, Ukraine, and so far it seems that everything will be fine, so long as the players and fans don’t mind stepping over thousands of stray dogs. German Princess Maja von Hohenzollern has joined forces with animal groups and shelters in the Ukraine to raise awareness to the country’s terrible stray pet population, so they can start rounding some of these pooches up at shelters instead of sending a kill squad to start putting them all down. And while some stray dogs and cats aren’t nearly as bad as soiled mattresses, streets overrun with garbage and wild, diseased monkeys attacking people, it is still upsetting to know that people don’t care about giving pooches like these guys or this fella so...

UEFA has launched two new ticketing programmes for UEFA EURO 2012 which will enhance the experience for supporters wishing to travel to Poland and Ukraine. The PNA (participating national associations) Fan Sales Programme and Tour Operator Programme, which went live in December, are considered especially important for a competition which presents different challenges from logistical and infrastructural perspectives. Around 85% of the 1.4 million tickets available for the final tournament will go to supporters, and fans of the 16 finalists are able to apply for tickets through the PNA Fan Sales Programme via 16 individual sales portals on UEFA.com. The portals are the only way for supporters to obtain tickets directly. Tickets are not being sold on a first-come, first-served basis, which means that fans can apply for tickets at any time while the sales window remains open and will have the same chance as everyone else. The Tour Operator Programme enables supporters to purchase all-in...

The 16 EURO 2012 contenders have chosen their base camps for this summer’s final tournament, with Ukraine one of two sides based in Kyiv, while co-hosts Poland will be in Warsaw along with Croatia, Greece and Russia. The local organising committees in Poland and Ukraine identified a selection of 38 outstanding accommodation options for the finalists, combining a hotel with nearby training facilities, all of which were included in the team base catalogue distributed to all 53 UEFA member associations in September 2010. After an application process, the associations with teams in the final tournament confirmed their bookings after the final draw in December 2011, with 13 of them having elected to stay in Poland for the duration of the tournament. Poland, Croatia, Greece and Russia will all be based in and around the capital, where the co-hosts will use the home of KSP Polonia Warszawa as their training ground. The Gdansk region proved to be equally popular: Denmark, Germany...

Accommodating all the fans who will be travellingto Poland and Ukraine this summer has proved a challenge for the authorities in both countries, but one they have responded to with vigour. Poland has met UEFA’s requirements in full, while in Ukraine building is continuing apace. In both countries, massive strides have been made to meet the challenge of UEFA EURO 2012. In Poland, Warsaw built 30 new hotels between 2008 and 2010; in Gdansk that number increases to 42; in Wroclaw 11 new hotels provide an additional 980 rooms; and Poznan has 6 new hotels. Ukraine too has risen to the challenge. In Kyiv 5 hotels with 200 rooms or more have been built, adding 1,217 rooms in all, and 7 hotels have been built in Kharkiv. Lviv and the neighbouring area of Truskavets – a touristic destination – already has a well-developed hotel infrastructure and is considering using spas to accommodate fans. In addition, accommodation in areas surrounding the host cities in Ukraine will be used to meet th...

Having had a No.1 single in both co-host countries, German-American pop star Oceana is the natural choice to sing the official UEFA EURO 2012 song, the upcoming release of which is widely anticipated. Oceana – whose 2009 hit Cry Cry topped the charts in Poland and Ukraine as well as other European countries, and featured a video shot in Kyiv – is to deliver the song that will showcase this summer’s much awaited UEFA European Championship to the world. The 29-year-old not only won the audience award at the prestigious 2009 Sopot song contest, she also participated in the Polish version of the popular Dancing with the Stars television show. Presenter on the German/French Arte TV channel, she was introduced to UEFA by the Embassy of Music. Oceana connects black to white, funk to soul, modern soul to jazz and pop. Her new song will be released ahead of UEFA EURO 2012. “I’m looking forward to the EURO 2012 championships and am so happy to be part of this amazing event! I love football a...

The official ball for UEFA EURO 2012 is the adidas Tango 12, the fourth incarnation of the iconic Tango ball used at three previous finals. The adidas Tango 12 – the 11th official adidas EURO ball – was unveiled at the draw for the final tournament in Kyiv in December by Ukrainian Olympic legend Serhiy Bubka. It includes a coloured outline based on the Polish and Ukrainian flags and is a modern interpretation of the classic design. The Tangoinspired designs used at earlier tournaments were the 1980 Tango River Plate, the 1984 Tango Mundial and the 1988 Tango Europa. Developed over a two-year period and tested by players of all abilities in eight countries, the adidas Tango 12 will be used for the first time in a competitive international when Poland get the tournament under way against Greece in Warsaw on 8 June. Shortly after the draw, every association taking part in the summer tournament received an allocation of 30 adidas Tango 12 balls for training and match use.