Commonwealth Games

albeit from wiki, i dont have to find faf around finding the article i read

"Readiness concerns
By June 2008, there were no plans to hold Euro 2012 outside Poland and Ukraine, according to UEFA.[3] However, Scotland has reportedly told UEFA it could step in and host the tournament.[3] In June 2008 Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith told BBC Sport: "We have made it clear that we'd like to be considered if it's not going ahead in Ukraine and Poland.... We haven't been told we are on standby or anything like that."[4] Platini has reiterated that "We will do everything possible so Poland and Ukraine can host Euro 2012. The only reason not to go ahead would be the absence of a stadium in Warsaw and Kiev"[citation needed]. August 2009 Platini stated that Poland, unlike Ukraine, was almost prepared to host the tournament, while suggesting UEFA could cut number of Ukrainian cities hosting Euro 2012 he left the option for Poland to organise the tournament alone open.[5] By late August 2010 Platini and other UEFA officials were optimistic about preparations for the tournament in both countries and saw no major obstacles.[6][7]

[edit] 2008
On 30 January 2008, UEFA president Michel Platini went on the record to warn the organisers of the need to avoid "critical slippages" in their preparations.[4][8] Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko replied on 11 June 2008 that Ukraine's preparations for Euro 2012 were proceeding normally and that she was confident all projects would be completed on time.[9] However, an official from the Ukrainian football federation stated the next day that Ukraine could lose the right to co-host the event due to delays in the renovation of Kiev’s Olympic stadium.[10] UEFA has been monitoring the situation closely and Platini confirmed on 26 June that a decision would be made in September 2008.[11]

In late September 2008, the Polish government suspended the PZPN (the Polish FA) and assigned an administrator. UEFA issued a letter to the Polish FA. Warsaw was warned it risked losing the right to co-host Euro 2012 alongside Ukraine.[12] Scotland has reiterated their interest in holding the 2012 tournament, should it be stripped from Poland and Ukraine as a result of this situation.[13]

On 31 October 2008, Evhen Chervonenko, the chairman of Ukraine's organising committee, said that due to the ongoing economic crisis Ukraine is having difficulty building some of the infrastructure needed to host.[14] He said that the major projects such as airports and stadiums are on schedule, but a liquidity crunch has stalled the construction of approximately 80% of the hotels needed to host.[14]

[edit] 2009
In April 2009, UEFA president Michel Platini visited the host countries to evaluate their preparations. He re-affirmed that Ukraine will remain co-host but hinted that most matches could go to Poland.[15] Following his visit to Poland, Platini announced that Polish preparations were on track and he saw no major problems.[15] According to Platini, six to eight cities will be designated and "not necessarily in equal proportion between Poland and Ukraine."[16]

In May 2009 prior to the UEFA meeting in Bucharest, the Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk stated: "We would be ready to host Euro 2012 in not four but in five to six cities if need be, but I think we should stick to the four plus four formula and not undermine our partnership with Ukraine."[17] The President of the Polish FA, Grzegorz Lato also expressed support for the 4 + 4 solution: "Poles and Ukrainians are in favour of an equal solution. We are a team, and this is a team game."[18]

On 13 May 2009, UEFA confirmed the appointment of the Polish cities of Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław and Gdańsk. While Kraków had received top marks from UEFA officials, it was not chosen as there was no justification to drop any of the original favorites whose preparations were all going well.[19]

A review of preparations in Ukraine revealed shortcomings in infrastructure in all candidate cities. A final deadline of 30 November 2009 was granted to Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv to meet specific conditions regarding infrastructure, with a warning that only Kiev and the best prepared city of the other candidates would otherwise be used.[20][21] Hryhoriy Surkis, the President of the Ukrainian FA argued that UEFA should grant his country more time before making a final decision on the host cities.[22] UEFA subsequently gave three Ukraine cities, Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv, until 30 November 2009 to prove they are capable of staging Euro 2012 games. Kiev was approved as a host city for most matches but the decision on whether it would host the final was deferred. "There are huge infrastructure problems to be resolved in Ukraine," UEFA president Michel Platini said.[23]

A July 2009 Ukrainian poll by research agency IFAK found that 56% of respondents believed that Ukraine will cope with hosting Euro 2012 and that 32% of respondents believed that their country will fail to stage Euro 2012 properly.[24]

In September 2009 Platini told reporters after an UEFA executive committee meeting "Ukraine has made sudden progress in their efforts to stage the tournament"[25]. In the same month, an airport building project to meet Euro 2012 requirements was presented in Donetsk.[26]

In December 2009, UEFA confirmed that the four Ukrainian cities (Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev and Lviv) will host EURO 2012 matches. Kiev was also confirmed to host the final game of Euro 2012. [27]

[edit] 2010
Concerns over Ukraine's preparations for the competition were raised again in May, after an interview between Michel Platini and the German Football Federation, suggesting that Germany and Hungary could replace them, unless improvements were made.[28] UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino stated on August 12, 2010 "There is still a lot to do", but he had "full confidence and trust and I'm very optimistic on the success of the Euro 2012 in Ukraine".[6] On August 27, 2010 Platini seconded that and stated "You can consider that the ultimatum no longer exists".[7]