Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine

Crowd trouble and corruption appear to have scuppered Italy’s chances of holding the European Football Championships. But have UEFA chosen the correct hosts?

It was announced this week that the 2012 European Football Championships will be hosted jointly by Poland and the Ukraine. It was a surprise decision by UEFA, European football’s governing body, as most observers expected the tournament to be given to traditional heavyweights and reigning world champions Italy.

However, it seems as though the Italians have been punished by the UEFA delegates for a series of problems that have stained the game. These include a referee corruption last year, and crowd trouble such as at the Champions League game between Roma and Manchester United and the killing of policeman in the Serie A game between Sicilian rivals Palermo and Catania.

That Italy didn’t get Euro 2012 is surely a good thing for the game – it shows that these things aren’t acceptable, and means that the tournament will be held somewhere new. It will be the first time than Eastern Europe has hosted the European Championships since 1976, when the event was held in Yugoslavia.

There are two things that are troubling about the decision, though. The first is the track record of tournaments being held in more than one country. These events – such as the 2002 World Cup in Japan, the 2000 European Championships in Holland and Belgium and the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies – never seem to develop a great atmosphere. There tends to be very little that’s memorable about them, partly because of the logistics of getting fans from place to place, and partly because a distinct national vibe can’t develop.

The second reason is the series of political crises in the Ukraine. It’s a country that seems to be constantly embroiled in revolutions, assassination attempts and attempted power grabs. Is this a safe choice in terms of being reliable enough to guarantee getting the infrastructure in place for such a major sporting event?