Poland and Ukraine have been chosen as joint-hosts of the 2012 UEFA European Championship Finals ahead of favourites Italy. The decision was announced by UEFA President Michel Platini in Cardiff, Wales today.The UEFA Executive Committee reached its verdict after examining the three bids on the final short list to stage the tournament in five summers' time – Poland/Ukraine, Croatia/Hungary and Italy.
Both Poland and Ukraine will stage matches in four venues apiece at the 2012 finals. The projected Polish venues are Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw, with Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev and Lvov the host cities in Ukraine.
Neither country has previously hosted a major finals tournament although both have strong footballing traditions: Poland were third at the FIFA World Cups of 1974 and 1982 while Ukraine's footballers played their part when the USSR won the inaugural UEFA European Championship in 1960, and last summer reached the World Cup quarter-finals as an independent nation.
[Watch the announcement]
[UEFA website]
[Poland-Ukraine bid website]
[Italy blame recent chaos]
[Rebuilding calcio faces uncertain future]
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