Miscellaneous
Logo and slogan
The competition slogan, Creating History Together (Polish: Razem tworzymy przyszłość, literally, "Together we are creating the future", Ukrainian: Творимо історію разом, Tvorymo istoriyu razom), was announced along with the logo. The slogan reflects the fact that Poland and Ukraine were united in the past as one country and are now two eastern nations with ambitions to stage the best tournament in the history of the European Championship.[38]
The official logo for the tournament was unveiled at a special event at Mykhailivska Square, Kiev, on 14 December 2009. It takes its visual identity from Wycinanki or Vytynanky, traditional form of paper cutting practised in rural areas of Poland and Ukraine. The art form symbolises the nature of the rural areas of both countries.[38][39] As part of the event, landmark buildings in the eight host cities were illuminated with the tournament logo.[40]
Match ball
The official match ball for UEFA Euro 2012 is the Adidas Tango 12, which is designed to be easier to dribble and control than the reportedly unpredictable Adidas Jabulani used at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[41]
Mascots
Slavek & Slavko
Slavek and Slavko are the official mascots of the UEFA Euro 2012. They are twins and represent Polish and Ukrainian footballers in national colours. The mascots were announced in December 2010.[42] Similarly as in 2008 names Slavek and Slavko were chosen in the web voting, over "Siemko and Strimko" and "Klemek and Ladko". It should be noted, however, that the name of the "Polish" mascot, Slavek, is not Polish. The letter "v" does not exist in the Polish alphabet and is used on a daily basis only in a very limited set of loan words. More importantly, the Polish equivalent of the Ukrainian Slavko would be Sławek, which contains the letter "ł", pronounced quite differently from "l" (in a way its proper pronounciation resembles that of the letter "w" in the word "walk"). UEFA, however, refused to incorporate non-English letters in the mascots' names.[43] They were designed by Warner Bros.
Ticketing
Tickets were sold directly by UEFA via its website, or are to be distributed by the football associations of the 16 finalists. Applications had to be made during March 2011 for the 1.4 million tickets available for the 31 tournament matches.[44] Over 12 million applications were received, which represented a 17% increase on the 2008 finals, and an all-time record for the UEFA European Championship.[45] Owing to this over-subscription for the matches, lotteries were carried out to allocate tickets.
Prices varied from €30 (£25) (for a seat behind the goals at a group match) to €600 (£513) (for a seat in the main stand at the final). In addition to individual match tickets, fans could buy packages to see either all matches played by one team, or all matches at one specific venue.[46]
In May 2012, UEFA will start sending tickets to fans which bought tickets also immediately UEFA will start selling additional tickets on ticketing website.
Trophy
The Henri Delaunay Trophy began a journey through the host cities seven weeks before the start of the tournament. A hundred days before the first match a 35.5-metre-high (116 ft) hot air balloon in the shape of the trophy was flown in Nyon, Switzerland and will visit 14 cities throughout the host countries, reminding spectators of the impending tournament.[47] On 20 April 2012 the trophy tour started and visited Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Poznań, Kraków, Katowice and Łódź cities. After the Polish cities, the trophy visited seven Ukrainian cities: Kiev, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Odesa.[48][49]
Penalty kicks
- Scored
None
- Missed
- Giorgos Karagounis for
Greece v 
Poland, saved by Przemysław Tytoń
Merchandising
UEFA signed a worldwide licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to help promote the tournament.[50] Warner Bros. agreed to license the following to the third parties: Accessories, Apparel, Automotive accessories, Baby personal care and accessories, Bags, Computer accessories, Drinking vessels, Footwear, General souvenirs, Home textiles, Houseware products and accessories, Jewellery, Publications, Sports accessories, Stationery and writing instruments, Toys and games.[51]
Music
The official Euro 2012 song is "Endless Summer" by the German singer Oceana.[52] In addition, UEFA has retained the melody that was composed by Rollo Armstrong of Faithless on its behalf for the 2008 tournament.[53]
The official Polish song for the tournament is "Koko Euro Spoko" by the folk band Jarzębina.[54] The Republic of Ireland has also produced an official song: "The Rocky Road to Poland" recorded by a collaboration of Irish performers has already reached number 1 in Ireland.[55] In Spain, the broadcasting company Mediaset España commissioned the song "No hay 2 sin 3", performed by David Bisbal and Cali & El Dandee and produced by RedOne.[56]
Infrastructure
In preparation for the tournament, the transport system in Poland and Ukraine has been extensively modified to cope with the large influx of football fans. 1.4 million tickets have been sold for the games, and over 20,000 people are forecast to cross the Poland-Ukraine border each day during the tournament.[57]
UEFA required both host nations to renovate their infrastructure – motorways, train stations and airport terminals – surrounding the host cities.[58][59][60]
The cost of these infrastructure projects is considerable. In Poland the total cost of key works is forecast to exceed €18 billion.[61] The President of Ukraine confirmed that his country had spent almost €3.3 billion on infrastructure.[62] Marcin Herra, head of a body supervising Poland's preparations, said that Euro 2012 provided the impetus for Poland to build roads and airports about five years faster than it would have without the tournament.[63]
Holocaust Memorial
Delegations including the German,[64] the Italian,[65] the Dutch[66] and the English,[67] will visit the Auschwitz concentration camp, before the start of the tournament, to pay tribute to the murdered Poles and Jews. The camp is the most well-known of a network of German Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by and in the Third Reich during the Second World War.
Concerns and controversies
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After Poland and Ukraine were chosen by a vote of the UEFA Executive Committee as host countries for Euro 2012, several issues arose, mostly on the Ukrainian side. Preparation work proceeded more speedily in Poland than in Ukraine and, following a visit in April 2009, Platini announced that all was on track and he saw no major problems.[68] UEFA confirmed the appointment of the Polish cities of Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław and Gdańsk.[69] At the same meeting, an appeal for the delayed decision on the Ukrainian venues was granted to Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv in order 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 if issues were not resolved by the end of November.[70][71][72][73]
Claimed problems in preparation
In January 2008, UEFA president Michel Platini warned the organisers of the need to avoid "critical slippages" in their preparations,[74] prompting Scotland to volunteer as an alternative host twice.[75][76] However, by June 2008, UEFA stated they were "not discussing any plan B in terms of new countries" hosting.[77]
Ukraine reported several problems which threatened their ability to co-host, including delays in the renovation of Kiev’s Olympic Stadium,[78] and difficulties funding infrastructure work after the economic crisis struck.[79] After an inspection in April 2009, Platini re-affirmed that Ukraine would remain co-host, hinting that most matches could go to Poland.[68] Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, stated that his country would be capable of the task, but was committed to the original plans,[80] as was the PZPN.[81]
In September 2009, Platini announced that "Ukraine has made sudden progress in their efforts to stage the tournament,"[82] and it was soon confirmed that their four cities (Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev and Lviv) would host matches. Kiev was also confirmed to host the Final.[83]
An interview Platini gave to the German FA in May 2010, suggesting that Germany and Hungary could replace Ukraine unless improvements were made, cast new doubt on their readiness.[84] However, by August, Platini revisited that and stated "You can consider that the ultimatum no longer exists,"[85] and that he was optimistic about preparations in both countries and saw no major obstacles.[86] After a UEFA delegation visited Ukraine in September 2011, he stated the country was "virtually ready for Euro 2012".[87]
Suspension of PZPN
In September 2008, the Polish government suspended the Polish Football Association (PZPN) over corruption issues, and assigned an administrator to fight against corruption in football. UEFA swiftly issued a letter warning that Poland risked losing the right to co-host.[88] The decision of Drzewiecki, Polish Minster for Sport, remained unchanged.[89]
Boycott calls
Following Yulia Tymoshenko's hunger strike which started on 20 April 2012 and her mistreatment in a Ukrainian prison, there have been growing calls to boycott the Euro 2012 in Ukraine.[90] The European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding and Androulla Vassiliou the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth have announced they will boycott the tournament in Ukraine.[91][92] The Austrian Chancellor, Werner Faymann, announced in May that Austrian government officials would not attend the tournament as a "political signal".[93] Belgium's government officials have announced they will boycott games held in Ukraine, with Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders calling on Ukraine's government to respect all of Tymoshenko's rights.[94] Germany has announced that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit would depend on Tymoshenko's release,[91] and she has urged her ministers to do the same.[95] Germany's Interior and sports minister Hans-Peter Friedrich will boycott the Germany v Netherlands match in Kharkiv.[95] The manager of Bayern Munich has called on the president of UEFA to condemn Ukraine's authoritarian regime,[95] and the manager of Borussia Dortmund has stated that he will boycott the event.[95] However, German sports officials have said that such boycotts are ineffective and the event should go ahead.[96] Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has criticised calls for a boycott saying that they are inappropriate,[97] but added that Ukraine's reputation will "suffer dramatically" without a solution.[98] Poland's opposition party is in favour of boycotting matches in Ukraine to change decision about Yulia Tymoshenko.[99]
Ukraine has compared the threats of boycott by European powers as a return to Cold War tactics.[100] In a statement UEFA says it has "alerted the Ukrainian delegation about the concerns raised by the political situation in Ukraine among European politicians and media",[101] but that "UEFA has no position and will not take any regarding the political situation in Ukraine, and will not interfere with internal government matters."[102] Meanwhile the heads of state of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Slovenia reportedly turned down an invitation to attend a summit of central and eastern leaders that Ukraine was due to hold.[103] The European Union asserted that all its commissioners would boycott the events in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted in saying that the boycott call was wrong and offered to give Tymoshenko medical treatment in his country, this was rejected. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry added that the threat of boycott could "hurt mutual understanding" and that they "view as destructive attempts to politicise sporting events, which since ancient times have played a paramount role in improving understanding and agreement between nations. An attack on this big dream undermines the chances of...all the former Socialist Bloc members to prove that their economic, human and scientific potential can turn them from the debtors of Europe to its engine of growth."[98]
Racism, antisemitism and hooliganism
On 28 May 2012, BBC current affairs programme Panorama examined the issues of racism, antisemitism and football hooliganism which it stated were prevalent among Polish and Ukrainian supporters.[104] The programme, titled Euro 2012: Stadiums of Hate, included recent footage of supporters chanting various antisemitic slogans and displays of white power symbols and banners. The documentary recorded widespread Nazi salutes, Sieg Heil chants, antisemitism and monkey noise taunts of black players.[104] FC Metalist Kharkiv supporters were seen violently assaulting a group of Asian students at the Metalist Oblast Sports Complex, one of the stadiums hosting matches in Ukraine.[105][106]
Various governments including France, Denmark and the United Kingdom have warned fans about the risk of racial violence.[107][108] Anti-discrimination training is being provided for 80,000 police officers and match stewards in Ukraine, where the police attitude towards hate crimes has been previously criticised by the US State Department, who said: "The police and government's slow response to hate crimes is a continuing concern. Although senior government officials have publicly deplored these hate crimes, street-level law enforcement officials are either unwilling or unable to deter hate crimes effectively or protect racial minorities adequately."[109]
The documentary was criticised as unfair by the Euro 2012 organisers. Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleh Voloshyn responded that the allegations were an "invented and mythical problem",[110]and that "Nazi symbols can be seen at ... any match in England".[111] Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated: "Nobody who comes to Poland will be in any danger because of his race. This is not our custom, as is not pointing out similar incidents in other countries."[112] Serhiy Pohotov, the head of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's Public Safety Department, said: "We have a sufficient number of police officers to properly respond to all reports. The information voiced [about possible racially-motivated provocations and disturbances] is being checked. Currently we have no such data that mass disturbances or provocations are being planned against dark-skinned people."[113]
Aviram Baruchyan, an Israeli player who plays as a midfielder for Polonia Warsaw was interviewed and told the program that he had never been harassed due to his ethnicity. His statement was cut from the show, as were the statistics provided by Polish police which showed that the number of racist incidence at matches has fallen over the last decade.[114][115][116]
During an open training session in Krakow, Dutch black players were subjected to monkey noises and loud jeers, an incident that the Holland captain Mark van Bommel described as a "real disgrace". UEFA acknowledged that there had been "isolated incidents of racist chanting".[117]
Animal cruelty
Ukraine has come under criticism from animal welfare organisations for killing stray cats and dogs in order to prepare for Euro 2012.[118] On 13 November 2011 the Ukrainian Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources announced they would immediately stop and prohibit the killing of stray dogs.[119][120][121] Mykola Zlochevsky, minister of the environment, said that amendments would be made to the Ukrainian legislation regarding the treatment of stray animals.[122] The minister also agreed a programme of construction for new animal shelters, the first to be completed by June 2012, and the introduction of new legislation making it "compulsory for city mayors to enforce such new regulations or run the risk of facing prosecution."[119] People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed in December that dogs were still being killed in preparation for the tournament.[118]
Terrorism
On 27 April 2012, four bombs went off in Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine (which is not a host city). At least 29 people were injured in what was described as a terrorist attack.[123] Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said that there would be an "adequate" response.[124] Hryhoriy Surkis, the head of the Ukrainian Football Federation, said that he "think[s] the people who committed this brutal crime...are also accomplices to an attack on the image of our country ahead of the Euro-2012." UEFA responded to the incident saying that it as confident of having a "smooth and festive tournament,"[125] however, should the political situation become more unstable, UEFA is reported to be open to the idea of the postponing the event to 2013.[126] Following serious security concerns, Angel Maria Villar, the Spanish Football Federation president, has reportedly offered to stage Euro 2012 in Spain.[126]
Protests
The FEMEN group has protested against a feared surge in prostitution and what they argue are Ukrainian government moves to legalise prostitution during the championships. Activists staged several topless protests, some on the Euro 2012 trophy while it was on public display.[127][128] The group asked UEFA and the Ukrainian government to create a social program devoted to the problem of sex tourism and prostitution in Ukraine; to inform football fans that prostitution is illegal in Ukraine; and to take additional steps to fight against prostitution and sex tourism.[129][130]
Hotels overcharging
In April 2012, while on an inspection trip to the host city of Lviv, UEFA president Michel Platini labelled hoteliers as "bandits and crooks" for raising hotel prices in Ukraine for Euro 2012.[131] President Yanukovych ordered his government to prevent hoteliers from charging inflated prices.[132] Some hoteliers had increased prices eighty-fold, causing Prime Minister Mykola Azarov to warn that state control of hotel tariffs might be introduced.[133] Later that month, Markian Lubkivsky, head of the Euro 2012 organizing committee in Ukraine, said hotel and hostel prices were no longer "critically" inflated.[134]
Toxic jerseys
In June 2012, the BEUC, Europe's consumer watchdog, issued a warning about chemicals found in football jerseys produced by Adidas, Nike and Puma.[135] The BEUC expressed the most concern about Polish jerseys, saying they should be banned because they were found to contain organotin, which is toxic to the nervous system.[135] Spanish, German, Ukrainian, Russian, French and Italian jerseys were found to contain lead, Portuguese and Dutch jerseys contained nickel, and Spanish and Italian shirts also contained nonylphenol.[135]
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