FAI release details of Euro2012 ticketing

The Football Association has announced the ticket information for next year’s European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine. The draw for the group stages will take place on December 2nd in Kiev. Ireland are fourth seeds and the draw will determine our entry into one of four groups, A, B, C or D. Each of the four groups will play matches across two host venues in one of the host countries, either Poland or Ukraine; Group A will play matches in the Polish cities of Warsaw and Wroclaw, Group B will play matches in the Ukranian cities of Kharkiv and Lviv, Group C will play matches in the Polish cities of Poznan and Gdansk, Group D will play matches in Ukranian cities of Donetsk and Kiev. Depending on the venues drawn on December 2nd, the number of tickets allocated by UEFA for Irish supporters will range from between 6,000 and 10,000 per match.
Ticket allocations for Irish supporters
In order to distribute tickets fairly to supporters during the UEFA EURO 2012 championships, an FAI Fan Sales Portal will be set up on www.uefa.com from December 12th 2011 until February 29th 2012.

Read more - http://www.newstalk.ie/2011/sport/fai-release-details-of-euro2012-ticketing/

Ukraine to stop killing stray dogs before Euro 2012 football championship

Environment ministry tells mayors to build animal shelters after bowing to pressure from Naturewatch in UK.

Ukraine has bowed to pressure from western animal protection groups and called for an end to the killing of stray dogs before the Euro 2012 football championship takes place in the country next summer.
The environment ministry said on Thursday that it was urging all Ukraine's mayors to build animal shelters instead.
Thousands of stray dogs have been killed in Ukraine over the past year – often poisoned or injected with illegal substances in an effort to clear the streets before the championship takes place in June – outraging local and international animal protection groups.
"Today I am publicly turning to all city mayors – let us stop the deaths of those poor stray animals for half a year and build shelters together," Mykola Zlochevsky, the environment minister, told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The statement followed a meeting with representatives of Naturewatch, a British group campaigning against animal cruelty in Ukraine. "This is a fantastic victory for Ukraine, its citizens and its animals," John Ruane, the head of Naturewatch, said.

Read more - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/17/euro2012-ukraine-stops-killing-stray-dogs?newsfeed=true

Portugal heroes thrilled to be in finals

Miguel Veloso told UEFA.com that Portugal had realised their UEFA EURO 2012 dream after scoring in the 6-2 defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina that took them to their fifth straight continental finals.
A tremendous free-kick from Ronaldo and a superb shot from Nani put Portugal two up in Lisbon inside 24 minutes, but Zvezdjan Misimović's penalty moments before the break gave some hope to the visitors. Ronaldo doubled his account early in the second half and although, despite Senad Lulić's dismissal, Safet Sušić's men reduced arrears again when captain Emir Spahić scored, Hélder Postiga struck twice either side of Veloso's own free-kick to remove all doubts.
"Better than my goal was the performance from the team and the fact that we achieved our main goal," Veloso said, before discussing his strike. "That was my area. I asked Cristiano, he allowed me to take the free-kick and I managed to score
"But I want to emphasis that the most important thing was the attitude that we showed on the pitch," the 25-year-old added. "The key of this qualification was the unity of the squad, the staff, and our will, things that you could see today."

Read more - http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2012/matches/round=2000113/match=2008831/postmatch/quotes/index.html

England's Euro 2012 base a far cry from sleepy Rustenberg

BBC Radio 5 live chief football reporter Ian Dennis reports from Krakow in Poland, where England will be based for next summer's Uefa 2012 European Championship...

I am not sure whether it is a case of learning from previous mistakes, but the contrast from South Africa to Poland could not be any greater.

After the isolation and remote location of Rustenburg, where England were based for their ill-fated 2010 World Cup campaign, Fabio Capello's players will be situated in the heart of Krakow, a city-centre experience which will give them a real feel for Euro 2012.

Their charming, quaint boutique hotel is just 20 metres from the main square in Krakow.

Read More - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15634413.stm

European Championship - Vidic quitting Serbia 'morally wrong'

Nemanja Vidic has let himself and Serbia down by quitting international football at the peak of his powers, former national team coach Ilija Petkovic told Belgrade media.

Petkovic, who led Serbia and Montenegro to the 2006 World Cup when they played as a single nation, was quoted as saying that Vidic "has made a morally wrong decision".
"Honestly, I am stunned with Vidic's decision because he could have played on for Serbia for a long time and this is a poor gesture for a player of his stature," he said.
"There are things of which I don't want to remind Vidic, he should have taken a good look at himself in the mirror before he decided to walk away.
"That is a big decision for such a young man and he will have to look the people in their eyes when he returns to Serbia one day.

Read more - http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/27102011/58/european-championship-vidic-quitting-serbia-morally-wrong.html