Italy are the slight favourites to be named as host nation for
the 2012 European championship on Wednesday.
It would be no surprise, though, if one of the joint bids from
Eastern Europe beat them in the decision to be taken by UEFA's
executive committee.
The other contenders are joint bids from Hungary/Croatia and
Poland/Ukraine with the latter having received the public support
of FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Despite all the recent trouble blighting Italian soccer since
their World Cup success last year, the Italians remain cautiously
confident of hosting the tournament for the third time after
staging a four-team event in 1968 and an eight-team finals in
1980.
Sources close to the Italians claim UEFA regard them as the
"safe option" but that the vote cannot be taken for granted.
A source said: "You cannot overlook two things - the first
concerns the current image of Italian football after last year's
match-fixing scandal, the death of the policeman in Sicily in
February and the trouble at the Roma-Manchester United match in the
Champions League.
"You also cannot ignore the fact that new UEFA President Michel
Platini has said that the middle-ranking countries and Eastern
Europe should play a bigger part in European football.
"We are just hoping that Platini's strong links with Italy will
help our bid."
All three contenders gave their final submissions to UEFA's
executive committee on Tuesday.
POLISH PROBLEMS
The Polish/Ukraine bid has been beset by problems with the
Polish government removing the country's football association from
power in January following a scandal involving corrupt
referees.
But having met with Blatter and taken action to prevent such
future problems, Poland's President Lech Kaczynski is confident it
should have no bearing on UEFA's choice.
"Over 70 persons have been arrested on this issue," Kaczynski
told a joint news conference with Ukraine President Viktor
Yushchenko in Cardiff on Tuesday night.
"I think we have done enough to be forgiven and stop such
practices happening in the future."
FIFA threatened to ban Poland from international competition at
one stage as they stood firm on their stance against governments
becoming involved in their nation's football association.
The bid was also in danger of being undermined by the political
climate in Ukraine. A presidential decree dissolved parliament to
call a new election next month, but Yushchenko said that resolving
the issue democratically would prove his country was heading in the
right direction.
"I don't want people making a tragedy out of what is happening
in Ukraine," he said.
"The political crisis will be resolved without force. We should
react with democratic methods. This is a political crisis and it
should be resolved by politicians."
Kaczynski added: "One prominent European politician asked me is
there the possibility of war breaking out in Ukraine. I told him it
is completely impossible and what the president said confirms this
statement."
(China Daily via Reuters April 18, 2007)