UEFA head Platini in Ukraine for Euro 2012 inspection

Sep 26, 2011, 10:10 GMT

Kiev - European football supremo Michel Platini arrived in Ukraine on Monday to inspect how well the former Soviet republic has prepared to host its share of the Euro 2012 tournament.

Platini, the president of European football union UEFA, was accompanied by the head of the Football Federation of Ukraine, Hryhory Surkis, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino, and more than a dozen local officials during his first stop in the western city Lviv.

The UEFA delegation's two-day tour of Ukraine's game sites will also take Platini to Kharkiv, Donetsk and the capital Kiev, the Interfax news agency reported.

The main focus of Platini's visits at all four game sites will be stadiums and airports, UEFA officials said.

Lviv has been the most problematic of Ukraine's host cities, with a stadium whose construction has fallen badly behind schedule, and a regional airport still badly needing a capacity upgrade.

'We have seen significant progress. In my opinion, at present there are no serious problems that could interfere with the preparations for Euro 2012,' Platini said.

The other three Ukraine venues are either built or nearing completion. Intense work is in progress on terminal expansions and runway extensions at all four game city airports.

Ukraine co-hosts the tournament with Poland June 8-July 1, 2012.

Borys Kolesnykov, the Ukrainian vice premier responsible for heading up the country's Euro 2012 preparations, said in a television interview that 'we will not be embarrassed before Platini ... there are no critical issues.'

Platini was scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday.

Yanukouvych has called Euro 2012 a key event for developing Ukrainian infrastructure and bringing the country closer to the European Union.

Though relatively successful at building stadiums and football infrastructure, a Ukrainian government campaign to overhaul the country's main highways and rail network to handle an expected one million visiting fans has been spotty, particularly in the country's east.

Speaking to reporters in Lviv, Platini said 'We will discuss those issues ... ' with members of the Yanukovych government.

Tourist infrastructure and service standards remain for the most part well below European levels throughout Ukraine, especially outside the capital Kiev.

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