Ukraine faces big challenge to host Euro matches (News Feature)

Kiev - Ukraine has plenty of problems in getting ready to host its share of the Euro 2012 football championship, and stadiums are the least of it. Kiev was given the nod in general - but not yet for the final - by the ruling body UEFA on Wednesday, but Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkiv have been given a final November 30 deadline to meet a large number of requirements. 'There are numerous infrastructure issues that urgently need to be resolved in Ukraine to convince the UEFA executive committee that the host city candidates can be appointed as Euro 2012 host cities,' said UEFA boss Michel Platini. Co-hosts Poland, by contrast, had all four cities confirmed. 'We consider the UEFA decision to be responsible and honest, for which we are grateful. I would like to say that now the Ukrainian government can focus its efforts on bringing the designated host cities up to standard,' said Ukraine Vice Premier Ivan Vasiunik. Kiev city official Evhen Chervonenko said: 'Kiev will meet all UEFA standards for the Euro 2012 final. There are no problems that we cannot deal with in Kiev. I am absolutely sure Kiev will host the final.' While only Lviv appears to have problems as far as stadiums are concerned, there are many other areas to tackle to be ready for teams, officials and thousands of foreign fans. Hotels nonetheless are probably Ukraine's biggest headache as even Kiev lacks rooms of sufficiently high standard. Donetsk and Kharkiv, neither tourist destinations, would be hard put to find sufficient beds of any stadard at all for tens of thousands of football fans. Ukrainian officials in all the cities have said the room problem will be dealt with using cruise ships tied up at city river front as temporary hotels, and by attracting foreign investment. Ukraine's inter-city road network is by almost any standards shoddy, with two- or three-lane highway the common standard, and four-lane divided highway construction only slowly pushing out from the capital. English-language signage is rare. Kiev city airport Boryspil routinely handles dozens of international flights and most major passenger aircraft, but has capacity problems leading to long delays. Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lviv lack runway length to receive even a mid-sized airliner. The good news on transportation is Ukraine's rail network, which if sometimes slow or uncomfortable is always cheap and reliable. Ukraine's national railroad company Ukrzhelesnitisia has long experience surging train volume along designated routes, and recently improved track quality to start Euro-standard 160kph service between Kiev and Kharkiv, with Lviv and Donetsk scheduled next.