More than 300,000 young people from 12,000 Ukrainian schools will participate in the football Cup EURO 2012, according to Information Centre Ukraine-2012. The tournament will begin on 20 March and will end with the finale at the Olympic National Sports Complex roughly in the middle of May. It is planned that the main prize – a copy of the European Football Championship trophy will be presented to the winners in person by UEFA president Michel Platini. Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Boris Kolesnikov said this during the presentation of the Football Cup of EURO 2012. Together with the official the concept of the Championship was also presented by Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science, Youth and Sports Dmytro Tabachnyk and the president of the Football Federation of Ukraine, Hryhoriy Surkis. The event took place in the Hall of Champions of the Olympic National Sports Complex.
“The main prize for winners of the tournament will be 25 tickets for the final of EURO 2012 for team – finalist of the Cup, and also 25 tickets each for semi-final teams of the tournament – for semi-finals of EURO and quarterfinals teams – for the quarter-final matches of EURO 2012, respectively”, Borys Kolesnikov said. He said that initially each school will play with its rivals at the district stage of competition, and then regional championships will take place.
Pupils participating in professional football teams and sections may not take part in the tournament, that is, the tournament is for young football amateurs. “The winners from the 27 administrative units of Ukraine, and one winner from each of 5 major cities (Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk) will play in 1/16 finals. Thus, we will get 32 teams that will play in the finals of the tournament”, the Vice Prime Minister explained.
He added that the final and semi-final matches of the Cup will be held on 7 and 8 May, respectively. The final match of the tournament will be organized so that it can be attended by UEFA President Michel Platini. Accordingly, the date of the tournament final will be known later.
Information Centre Ukraine-2012 - ukraine2012.gov.ua
