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Krakow Out Of Contention For Euro 2012.

May 13th, 2009 | By: tomasz | 12 Comments »

“Unbelievable!”, that’s how most people greeted the decision about Krakow not being the host city for Euro 2012. Michel Platini announced today that Euro 2012 will be hosted by four Polish cities: Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw. As for Ukraine, the decision hasn’t been made as UEFA has still some reservations about Ukrainian candidate cities. It’s possible that Euro will only be played in six cities (four Polish and two Ukrainian).

Krakow out of contention? Wow, that was an extreme surprise. In the last couple of months it was listed among Warsaw and Gdansk as certain 2012 host cities. It is regarded by many as the most beautiful city in Poland (it’s hard to question it) and the one with the most developed accommodation services (since it’s the most popular tourist destination in Poland). I hope we’ll get to know the reason behind this decision. Krakow officials claim that their offer was ideally prepared and blame the state authorities for their failure. Some even go as far as to say that the decision was a political one (whatever that means). UEFA decided to remain with the four original host cities; I wonder if any competition between the cities was ever a case. Chorzow was another city left out, but it was doomed for failure by most of the experts so it’s not a huge surprise. On a personal note, I’m rather happy with the outcome. I was born in Gdansk so I’m happy that the city where the downfall of the communist regime started will get its share of Euro 2012. Plus, in my opinion Gdansk’s Baltic Arena is the most beautiful stadium of the tournament (based on a model of an amber stone). I currently live in Poznan and I know that this city is fascinated with football and will do everything to make the teams and fans’ stay memorable. I hope to somehow enroll myself to work for Euro 2012, possibly as a volunteer. There are also plans in Poznan to build a huge fans’ zone. Wroclaw seems to be the least convincing candidate for me, but somehow they were able to defeat Krakow. Is there any hope left for the former Polish capital? Apparently not. Ideally, the tournament will be hosted by four Polish and four Ukrainian cities. It’s also possible that UEFA will only accept two Ukrainian candidates (the global stroke the Ukrainian economy real hard). However, there was no mention of Poland getting five host cities. What do you think of Krakow’s elimination?

Tags: Euro 2012, Gdansk, Group A, Krakow, Poland, Poznan, Warsaw, Wroclaw

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Comments

By gregorio | May 13th, 2009 at 6:55 am

unbelievable! fucking shame kraków didn’t make it. oh well, at least i’ll get an opportunity to visit poznań. tomek, i hope you’ll put me up for the euros:)

Posted from Poland

By ja | May 13th, 2009 at 9:37 am

I’m glad becouse Wrocław is THE BEST!!!!!

Posted from Finland

By adas | May 13th, 2009 at 10:56 am

I guess its a victory for the “lesser” cities. A shame though, as Krakow is really nice. From the sound of it though, one of the bigger cities was gonna get the boot, and people would be complaining. Warsaw was a lock,so it came to Gdansk and Krakow. Personally, I found Gdansk more to my liking. So cheers to Gdansk. But more importantly, let’s hope Poland can put up a good performance at the Euros. This could be the last chance Poland has to hold a tournament. If things go bad, I can’t see them getting another one.

By zaraza | May 13th, 2009 at 1:45 pm

At this point, it wouldn’t have been fair to drop Gdansk, Poznan or even Wroclaw. The PZPN really made a mess of things when they only named Krakow as a reserve venue in the original bid.

Chorzow has a great stadium but the lack of tourist attractions meant they never really had a chance.

Posted from Canada

By Tomek | May 13th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

That’s pretty stupid, ’cause Krakow’s easily the most beautiful city of Poland.

I never understood why Chorzow wasn’t chosen, it’s the best developed football stadium after all. But I guess there aren’t many tourist attractions to support it. Though to be honest none of the other cities have loads of ‘em as well.

By MarcinO | May 13th, 2009 at 9:22 pm

One way to look at it is that UEFA was not looking at the tourist attraction criteria when deciding the host cities. Accommodation was just as important as the quality of stadiums. That is why not choosing Krakow was a little surprising. I guess they feel that once the stadiums are completed in the cities chosen they will be better than Krakow and Chorzow. Either way, the chosen cities will benefit in the long run. From a tourist perspective, Krakow is very accessible from the host cities. It would have been nice for the Wisla fans in part because of the team’s history. But it is a great reserve stadium. I don’t look at this as a disappointment for Krakow but as an opportunity for the other cities.

By kacinski | May 13th, 2009 at 9:25 pm

ya, that was stupid to leave out krakow, especially since it has an airport, is a popular tourist sight, and already has a fairly decent sized stadium. But nevertheless I am still happy the Euro 2012 tournament plans are moving relatively smoothely!

By nick | May 13th, 2009 at 9:26 pm

i’m not suprised at all, when the bid was won it the idea was gdansk poznan warsaw and wroclaw would be the 4 main host cities with chorzow and krakow as reserve venues; its a shame for krakow to miss out but i would prefer wroclaw if they can get things in order

By zaraza | May 14th, 2009 at 9:44 am

Reports from Poland say that UEFA was definitely most impressed by Krakow. The problem was that UEFA signed an agreement a couple years ago with Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Poznan, and since all of these cities are fulfilling their obligations, then UEFA simply could not justify breaking that agreement. The blame definitely lies with the PZPN for not naming Krakow as a main venue back when they made the bid to host the tournament.

Posted from Canada

By Radek | May 14th, 2009 at 10:33 am

With the mess that the Ukraine cities for EURO 2012 are in (see the news reports today), I still think Krakow has a chance, but we won’t know until December.

Posted from Canada

By Hieronim | May 14th, 2009 at 4:02 pm

wow Warzyniak really fucked up.

By zaraza | May 16th, 2009 at 5:22 pm

According to this article, UEFA was set to name all 6 Polish cities but changed their mind after a last plea from Ukrainian FA president:
http://football.uk.reuters.com/european/news/LE904785.php

I think UEFA made the right decision, it would have been very harsh on Ukrainians if UEFA decided on such an uneven split. Surkis is hopeful that preparations will move more quickly now that more IMF loan money has been approved.

Posted from Canada

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