Vienna - UEFA president Michel Platini praised Austria and Switzerland for a successful hosting of Euro 2008 Saturday while at the same time telling 2012 hosts Poland and Ukraine they had until September to show they could hold the event.
Platini said at his tournament-closing press conference in Vienna ahead of Sunday's final between Germany and Spain that a final decision on the capability of both countries to host Euro 2012 would be made at UEFA's next Executive committee meeting in September.
"Next Wednesday, a 12-man UEFA delegation will meet with ministers and other relevant parties (from Poland and Ukraine) and in September in Bordeaux we will make a final decision," said Platini.
"At the last meeting of the Executive Committee (at the UEFA Congress in Zagreb) we told the countries to wake up and gave them four months," he continued.
"We will do everything we can to ensure Poland and Ukraine host it and there is no backup plan. The only reason for us to decide not to have the tournament in Poland and Ukraine would be if there were no stadiums in the two capitals."
Earlier this week, Evhen Chervonenko, chairman of the national agency responsible for preparing for Euro 2012 in Ukraine, said his country had "no grounds to fear" the upcoming UEFA visit.
At next week's meeting, Ukraine would deliver a "more detailed general plan" to UEFA bosses as to how the country will have in place the necessary infrastructure for the event, he said.
But the infrastructural changes needed in Ukraine to meet all UEFA standards are daunting, including the construction of thousands of kilometres of European-standard roads, the erection of dozens of currently non-existent hotels, and the improvement to international standards of Soviet-built airports, train stations, and public transport.
Meanwhile this week in Poland, 100 stilts were pounded into the ground to test the stability of the future location for the National Stadium in Warsaw.
The stadium - host for the first match of Euro 2012 - will be built on top of a decrepit, communist-era venue that was considered one of the world's most beautiful in 1955. (dpa)
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