Sounds like Italy might be hosting it. The 3 choices are:
Italy Croatia/Hungary Poland/Ukraine
Although there are a few space-ship like stadia in Croatia, surely Italy will win? It's not for another 7 years so perhaps the government are gonna be spending a lot to upgrade the Italian stadia soon?
I expect Poland/Ukraine to win it - what with new accession to the EU and expanding borders and such, i'd imagine there is a certain amount of pressure within UEFA to expand borders and send tournaments East [or more East anyway...]
"Why do you take my statements with a papal seriousness?" "I don't want the virgin olive oil..."
By 2012 it will be 22 years since Italy hosted an international football competition. Juve should have their new stadium by then. The stadio della alpi may also be modified for torino.
But judging by the fans bad behaviour at some serie a games and in europe, could this be a problem?
I hope Italy get it because I think playing at home will be a help in winning the competition.
I'm not gonna keep my hopes up though. I think croatia has a big chance. Fifa want to promote football nthrough more countries and promote more of the lesser known nations. So, I think they may select Croatia, if their stadiums and security are satisfactory.
Hungary also has a great history in football. maybe not in recent times, but they used to be a major force in football years ago. fifa may see this as a chance for them to restore their greatness. This kind of thing is important to Fifa because they want more countries competing to win realistically competitions apart from the usual five or six.
Given the opposition, I can't see how Italian fans can jeopardise Italy's chances of hosting it. I mean, neither Poland or Ukraine nor Croatia (not sure about Hungary) have exemplary fans. Plus racism is as bad in these countries as it is on some Italian terraces.
I'd love to see Euro 2012 awarded to Poland/Ukraine if only to pee off smug gits like Galliani and co.
However, I think it will probably come to Italy. A semi-final defeat on penalties for Italy would, in that case, satisfy me.
No tax payers' money is to be used this time around to do work on stadiums. The amount of money that was wasted the last time and the poor value for money obtained has still not been forgotten.
Having said that, if Berlusconi is still in power when decisions are to be made Bilan will surely get something out of it all.
With a bit of luck he'll be out of office though and who knows, by 2012 he might even be dead.
Originally posted by interjambo: I'd love to see Euro 2012 awarded to Poland/Ukraine if only to pee off smug gits like Galliani and co.
However, I think it will probably come to Italy. A semi-final defeat on penalties for Italy would, in that case, satisfy me.
No tax payers' money is to be used this time around to do work on stadiums. The amount of money that was wasted the last time and the poor value for money obtained has still not been forgotten.
Having said that, if Berlusconi is still in power when decisions are to be made Bilan will surely get something out of it all.
With a bit of luck he'll be out of office though and who knows, by 2012 he might even be dead.
Such profound and logical thought..as ever your bang on the money ...
I think Italy will get Euro 2012 but the only reason they may not is if UEFA decide to raise the profile of the game in Croatia, Ukraine and Poland. Verona and Cagliari would probably also host smaller group games.
I think Italy deserve it because they have held big tournments before and they also have 10 stadiums capable of holding matches plus it would be a lift to Italy because they look like going down hill
Unfortunately, all those reasons are also good ones for *not* giving Italy the tournament.
The argument would be that the Italians already have the football infrastructure, and giving the tournament to one of the others would encourage the development of better facilities, etc, etc, finally overcoming the legacy of communist dictatorship, blah, blah.
Where fans could be an problem isn't with racism (UEFA might have started fining clubs more than a tenner and not overturning the fine on appeal by 2012), but the 'This is a bit dull, let's throw things onto the pitch' approach that we often see. It may be that the Poles and Ukranians go to matches armed with AK47s, but since we don't see this on TV, UEFA will likely ignore it. After all, they've managed to ignore Turkey's er... interestingly lively approach to supporting football (don't forget that it's FIFA who've finally got cross about this, not UEFA - not that FIFA will do anything bar giving the Turkish FA a telling off).
