Euro 2012 - Ukraine and Poland

WARSAW – Decisions about match sites in the Euro 2012 football championship belong to UEFA, not the Polish government, Polish Football Association (PZPN) head Michal Listkiewicz said on Tuesday.

“If Poland wants to change a site it has to get UEFA’s permission first,” Listkiewicz was quoted by Polish PAP news agency.

Recently Warsaw mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz suggested building a planned Euro 2012 stadium on the city’s outskirts and not, as initially planned, next to the defunct 10th Anniversary Stadium.

Listkiewicz, appointed by PZPN as UEFA commissioner for the Euro 2012 event, said Polish decisions on changing the Warsaw stadium site needed approval by UEFA. He added that PZPN had as yet received no written decisions on the matter and assured that if the Polish side came up with concrete re-siting suggestions he would immediately take the matter to UEFA.

UEFA expects concrete plans regarding site changes, Listkiewicz said and listed several examples where such moves had been successful.

Listkiewicz assured that stadium site changes would not make Poland lose Euro 2012.

The Warsaw branch of outgoing ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) today supported initial plans to build the stadium next to the old one and called Gronkiewcz-Waltz’s idea “irresponsible and an endangerment to the project”.

On April 18, Poland and Ukraine were chosen to co-host the European Football Championship in 2012. They will co-host the football tournament for the first time in history.