The
UEFA delegation came to Gdańsk from Belarus.
'This is a courtesy visit. Firstly, Mr Platini wanted to see how the works are progressing, and secondly, this is a big honour for the host cities,' said Michał Brandt at the Gdańsk Euro 2012 Bureau.
The UEFA officials spent five hours in the coastal city. They were rather sparing in their comments. The most important words were said during the press briefing: 'I have no doubts at all as far as Poland is concerned,' said Michel Platini. 'There are always risks, but here they stem from the fact that neither Poland nor Ukraine have ever organised an event of this size.'
He stressed the UEFA and its experts were always ready to help the host countries in the organisation of the cup.
Mr Platini visited the site where the Gdańsk stadium is being constructed. 'I must praise the city president and all the teams involved for an amazing project, not only of the stadium itself but also of the revitalisation of the neighbourhood where it's located,' said the UEFA head. 'The tournament lasts only three weeks, but the infrastructure will serve for 40-50 years. I know from experience that a project like this allows the whole city to develop.'
'When he went out on the deck from which the whole construction site can be seen, he only said "wow,"' said Mr Brandt.
Mr Platini then met with
Lech Wałęsa, who presented him with two photos from 1983, when Lechia Gdańsk met Juventus Torino, Mr Platini's team at the time.
In the afternoon, the UEFA head was in Poznań.
'My congratulations,' he told city president Ryszard Grobelny when they entered on the crown of the stadium-in-construction at Bułgarska Street.
The venue is Poland's most complex Euro 2012-related project.
'The decision what to do with Ukraine will be taken in December,' said Mr Platini. 'For now, we've decided that Euro 2012 can be organised on the Ukrainian side by Kyiv, though not the final match.'
He added that in the beginning it seemed that the two countries' organisational capacities were equal. 'In Poland everything is going as planned, in Ukraine things are less well. We have four months to decide what to do next,' said the UEFA head.
Mr Platini will visit the construction site in Wrocław today.
translated by Marcin Wawrzyńczak
