UEFA look to the east

UEFA’s determination to stage the European Championships in a former Warsaw Pact country was underlined today as Turkey and Greece were eliminated from the race to host Euro 2012.

Three bids now remain in the running following a secret ballot by UEFA’s executive committee: Italy, and two joint bids, Hungary/Croatia and Poland/Ukraine.

UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said: “It sends a message that there is a will in the executive committee to test the possibility of staging the tournament in the east of Europe.

“They are now catching up in terms of being able to stage these events. This a sign that we have to look east.”

Italy, hosts in 1990, are the early favourites after polling the most votes (11) compared to Hungary/Croatia (9), Poland/Ukraine (7), Turkey (6) and Greece (2).

Olsson warned, however, that Italy faced major problems in relation to security and crowd trouble inside their stadia.

He added: “In some cases when it comes to security matters in Italy it is not properly organised. They need to have proper legislation to be effective.

“It has been proven in the national championships and club competitions that the security situation in Italy is not satisfactory.”

The vote was something of a shock as Turkey had been expected to make the shortlist.

Greece paid the price for uncertainty over the country’s FA – FIFA are threatening to kick the organisation out of world football due to government interference.