Up to the last moment few people believed that Ukraine would win the bid to host the Euro 12 finals. The statements of top government officials, who declared that the Ukrainians and Poles were confident in the success of their bid, were mostly regarded as par for the course. Even the presence of both presidents and powerful support teams, including world-famous athletes, also looked like a formality — just part of the protocol.
But when UEFA President Michel Platini pulled the card out of the envelope, with all the TV cameras pointing at him, and displayed the text — Ukraine-Poland — it finally became clear whom we should thank for the privilege of hosting Europe’s biggest soccer show for the first time in the history of our country.
Hryhorii Surkis, the president of the Ukrainian Soccer Federation (FFU), was the one who spent years nurturing this seemingly fantastic idea. Over the years of trying to get his idea to host the Euro 2012 in Ukraine he was called every name in the book. At best, he was called a daydreamer, who had lost all contact with reality and could not see the gaping abyss between Europe and Ukraine and how far we were lagging behind the European countries according to all markers.
They were right, except for one thing. In soccer we were never the last in Europe. All these years, starting in 1960, when the Soviet national team won the first European Cup playoff in Paris, until the present day, when the Ukrainian national team challenges the French team in the 2008 European Cup qualifiers, the soccer field has been practically the only place where we have been able to compete on equal terms.
In fact, it wasn’t difficult to realize that soccer could restore Ukraine’s place among the leading countries of Europe. The prospects of stepping up the Ukrainian economy if we ended up hosting the European soccer finals were also obvious. However, there is a long way between conceiving an idea and implementing it, and few people can venture along this path. It is anyone’s guess how much it cost Surkis to convince practically all the top-ranking officials in Ukraine that we had to host the European soccer finals. Step by step, day by day, his incredible idea began to seize hold of the public imagination and at the same time gain real attention from the leading members of the European soccer bureaucracy.
President Yushchenko is a separate story. He has never been a soccer fan, and has never shared Surkis’s political ideas. Nevertheless, Surkis succeeded in gradually making our head of state a member of the huge family of Ukrainian soccer lovers. This too was no easy task. Nor can the members of the UEFA Executive Committee, who made the decision about who would host the Euro 2012 finals, be described as simple people who give way easily to persuasion. But as it turns out, most of them were on our side because one of their fellow members was Surkis, who proved to everyone that Ukraine means business — at least where soccer is concerned.
Unlike failure, success always has many fathers. So, before the heady feeling of knowing that Ukraine was chosen as the host country for the Euro 2012 championship fades away, we should give due credit to the father of this idea. Let us all wish Hryhorii Surkis every success in bringing his project to fruition, because from now on Euro 2012 belongs to all of us.
Historians will probably describe April 18, 2007, as the date that opened Ukraine’s road to Europe. Perhaps in the next five years we will get so close to Europe that Ukraine’s membership in the EU will be a purely technical matter.
Ukrainian soccer fans owe Surkis their special gratitude for Euro 2012 because it’s a sure thing that five years from now the Ukrainian national team will be competing for the European Cup as the team of the host country.
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Eight out of 12 members of the UEFA Executive Committee voted for the Ukrainian-Polish bid. Two members could not vote because they represented Ukraine and Italy. The Euro 2012 host country was determined by UEFA president Michel Platini and the heads of the soccer federations of Turkey, UK, Spain, Germany, Cyprus, Portugal, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Romania, and Russia. Hryhorii Surkis, the president of the Ukrainian Soccer Federation, and ex-president of the Italian federation Franco Carraro could not vote even as members of the UEFA Executive Committee because their countries were bidding. To win the final Euro 2012 tender in the first round, a bid had to collect at least seven votes.
In Ukraine, the Euro 2012 games will take place in Kyiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Lviv. In Poland, the matches will be held in Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan, and Wroclaw. There are also two reserve soccer-hosting cities in both countries. The opening ceremony of the soccer championships will take place in Warsaw, and the final game will be held in Kyiv. Sixteen soccer teams, divided into four groups, will be competing. The host teams will not compete in the qualifiers.
Neither Ukraine nor Poland has ever hosted a competition of this caliber. No such soccer tournaments were held in the Soviet Union. The last (2004) European championship took place in Portugal and was won by Greece. In 2008 the European soccer championships will be hosted by Austria and Switzerland.
THE DAY’S QUOTE
“Ukraine became independent 15 years ago. This was a chance to become an independent country. Today we have another opportunity. Believe me: we will justify the historic choice, that fantastic choice which was made a few minutes ago by UEFA President Michel Platini.”
IMPRESSIONS
Andrii SHEVCHENKO (BYuT):
I think this is proof that God is really protecting Ukraine and that our country is being led by a lucky star. We knew that our chances were slim. The fact that this happened during this period of great political tension only adds to the significance of this decision. It shows that parliaments come and go, but our country is growing, raising its head, and showing respectable results. I am absolutely certain that 2012 will mark a great breakthrough for Ukraine. This is a ticket to the top leagues of both soccer and tourism, not to mention the economy, money, state revenues, and jobs.
But soccer cannot eliminate the political crisis, especially where rampant corruption and blatant injustice are concerned. Soccer cannot resolve these problems. But even though it will not eliminate the crisis, soccer forces politicians on both sides to raise their heads and look to the horizon. It is very hard to learn how to drive a car when you keep looking at the front wheel. This is also a wonderful beacon for our politicians; they should take a closer look at the year 2012 and ask themselves, “What kind of country do we want to live in right now?”
Taras CHORNOVIL (Party of Regions):
I feel triumphant, thrilled, and satisfied by what has happened. This is a universal victory that should show one elementary thing to everyone. Politics is one thing, but there are far more important things than politics. All the president’s edicts look ridiculous against the backdrop of this victory. It is a driving force to a powerful opportunity that certain countries have used to achieve their national rebirth. Portugal is what it is today because of the world soccer championships. When it succeeded in attracting investors and mobilizing all its inner resources to host the soccer championships, it received the stimulus it needed to boost its progress. Something like this can also happen in Ukraine.
To us, all this has colossal significance as well as moral, political, economic significance, and certainly sports. The main thing is for us to put it to good use. It is important for us to prepare the infrastructure and not play political games in conjunction with all kinds of gambles.
Anatolii SEMYNOHA (BYuT):
This is certainly a serious victory for Ukraine. It is recognition of Ukraine’s international prestige. It means that we are living in a European country and moving in the right direction.
Ukrainians can truly be consolidated by such things, which help them feel proud of their country. Our country is not split in two. It’s just that politicians are playing these games.
Will this event remove our political tensions? I think this is impossible because the current crisis has completely different roots, and it has to be settled by political means.
Volodymyr VECHERKA (Party of Regions):
This is really splendid news that can serve to consolidate the country. However, I would like to point out that our country is consolidated as it is. It is just that some politicians are trying to disunite Ukraine. Everybody wants to live in peace, to work, be paid for it, and to raise their children. Our country is being split by radical politicians who, apart from radicalism, cannot do anything.
Euro 2012 may well become the prerequisite for reconciliation. Yushchenko’s trip to Great Britain was not in vain. He will probably address a message to the people after he returns, saying that we have won and must now join our efforts to prepare for the Euro competitions. Our president must also be thinking about reconciliation, even though right now he is surrounded by hawks.
