Next month, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) will send a special letter to UEFA asking for Krakow’s inclusion on the list of organizers for the Euro 2012
On the June 5, the Polish Football Association (PZPN) will send a special letter to UEFA asking for Krakow?s inclusion on the list of organizers for the European Football Championships Euro 2012, Gazeta Wyborcza reports.
Last month in Cardiff, Wales, the UEFA Executive Committee decided Poland and Ukraine will host the 2012 Euro Cup. Poland proposed 4 cities where the games could take place: Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan and Gdansk. Krakow and Chorzow have been designated as backup cities for the matches. According to the Gazeta Wyborcza, PZPN will apply to the Union of European Football Associations to increase the number of Polish host-cities from four to six. Zdzislaw Krecina, General Secretary of PZPN states that Ukraine plans to do the same.
?If we compare to Portugal, Poland and Ukraine are very big. So we are going to try to arrange, together with the Ukrainian Football Association, that games will be played in six stadiums in each country,? says Zdzislaw Krecina.
In early May, chairman of the Polish Football Association Michal Listkiewicz and Zdzislaw Krecina spoke with UEFA President Michel Platini about the proposal.
?It is known that UEFA does not have any preformed strategy for this request.
The fact that the European Soccer Union agreed to raise the number of cities for the organization of Euro 2004 in Portugal does not mean that UEFA will automatically arrive at the same decision this time. Each case is analysed separately and the decision is taken later,? says Krecina.
According to plans, Wisla Stadium on Reymonta Street will be Krakow?s main stadium of choice. It is the smallest stadium among candidate cities, with a seating capacity of only 32,560 spectators. However, Wisla?s small capacity may be the town?s trump. Minister of Sport Tomasz Lipiec has criticized Gdansk in north Poland for plans of an oversized stadium to seat 44 thousand fans.
?I think, it is better to build a location for 30-35 thousand spectators,? Lipiec said. ?Because after the games, it is still necessary to maintain a stadium, and this is not so simple. Now, if we look at Greece or Portugal, we see how many stadiums have become ruins. I have the same remarks for Wroclaw.?
At the moment, the Wisla Stadium has two new galleries ready. However, the remaining bleacher areas are in need of rearrangement. City authorities have not yet signed an agreement with the Architectonic Studio of Wojciech Obtulowicz.
At this time, several important points of the agreement have not been agreed upon.
For instance, the cost of the project is unknown and the final architectural concept of the Krakow arena has not been decided, reports Gazeta Wyborcza.
Wojciech Obtulowicz has prepared a visual model already, but the local government has recently discussed roofing the plans for stadium entirely. This would alter the plans completely.
?We are already running late. Our office will be working round the clock — even during vacations,? Obtulowicz said.
?Lack of a formal agreement influences the entire investment process ? the stadium and the concomitant infrastructures. We need to reach an agreement before the end of this year,? says Jan Tajster, director of Management of the Krakow Roads Department. ?A permit for building a multimedia pavilion with a special area for journalists is ready, too. We plan to have the pavilion ready for use by the end of 2007.?
The Polish government liked the Poznan Stadium investment very much.
Minister of Regional Development Grazyna Gesicka promised city authorities 30 million euro for the stadium extension. Municipal ownership and the legal status of the stadium in Poznan were instrumental in the decision.
?Krakow has an identical situation,? says Governor of the Malopolskie Voivodeship Marek Nawara. ?The Minister of Regional Development has returned to my office with a query about state of preparation of an essential project for the Euro organization. I?m only waiting for the answer from Krakow?s government, and I will send the answer immediately to Warsaw.?
There is a chance that Krakow will be allocated additional funding from the state budget to extend Wisla Stadium.