( CNN ) -- In April 2007 , UEFA 's executive committee voted to accept a joint proposal from Poland and Ukraine to host the European football Championships in 2012 . Poland faces a struggle to upgrade many of its venues , such as Tenth Anniversary stadium in Warsaw . The decision to award the tournament to Poland -- a former communist country -- and Ukraine -- a former Soviet Republic -- was viewed with surprise by many in the world of sport as they had defeated a rival bid from established football powerhouse Italy . In addition to providing economic benefits -- hosting Euro 2008 was worth over $ 450 million to the Austrian economy according to its government -- staging such a high-profile international event would cap their remarkable transformation into credible democracies in the eyes of the world . However , both countries have had to address a number of problems . Watch more about Poland 's bid » . Political instability remains an issue in Ukraine -- the fragile ruling coalition recently collapsed -- while Poland 's national team narrowly avoided a suspension after football 's world ruling body FIFA said its federation had done little to stamp out corruption . A match-fixing scandal in the domestic league in 2005 led to about 70 people being arrested , though no one has been prosecuted . Significantly , neither country has hosted a major sporting event and concerns remain about the shortage of adequate stadiums , high-quality hotels and poor transport infrastructure in both Poland and Ukraine . With the proposed semi-final venues in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and the Polish capital Warsaw , fans would currently be faced with a 30-hour train journey to attend both games . Although there are plans to expand and improve the highway linking the nations . The opening match is scheduled to be staged at a new 70,000-capacity National Stadium in Warsaw when construction work is completed in 2009 at a cost of $ 800 million . The final will be held at Kiev 's redeveloped Olympic Stadium , however all 12 proposed venues need considerable work in order to comply with international standards . The remaining games will be held in the Polish cities of Gdansk , Poznan , Wroclaw , Chorzow and Krakow , as well as the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk . Concerns about the readiness of the co-hosts led to a warning in June this year from UEFA President Michel Platini that they risked losing the right to stage the tournament if stadiums in their capitals were not ready . This prompted a defiant response from the prime minister of Poland , who vowed to prove the skeptics wrong and make the 2012 European Championship an organizational triumph . `` We are aware that there are countries interested in us failing and the only successful rebuke to that will be better coordination and solidarity in our actions , '' Polish premier Donald Tusk told reporters at the time . Bizarrely , the head of Poland 's Football Association , Michal Listkiewicz , offered Uefa an alternative option for 2012 after voicing his concerns about Poland 's ability to overcome its transport issues . `` If the European Championships took place in 2016 , we would have no problems about being ready then , '' Listkiewicz told Germany 's Die Zeit Online . `` But realistically we are looking at having no good roads in time for 2012 , '' he said . `` From Gdansk ( in Poland ) to Donetsk ( in the Ukraine ) is more than 1,500 kilometers ( 930 miles ) . This is not like in Austria and Switzerland where everything lies close together . '' Both countries were given a partial reprieve in September this year after UEFA 's executive committee met in Bordeaux to discuss a progress report on preparations for the tournament . `` The executive committee reconfirmed UEFA 's commitment to organize Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine , '' Platini told uefa.com . `` At the same time , the committee stressed a number of conditions must be met in order to bring forward the whole project . '' `` If we do n't have the stadiums in Kiev and Warsaw , that 's a problem . Ukraine ca n't afford to send everyone to a country where there is no capital city ( ready ) , '' Platini said . `` They are working very hard and we have confidence in them . The president and the prime minister tell me it will be ready . What am I supposed to say ? That I do n't believe them ? '' He added that the committee would review the progress again in May 2009 . UEFA will then confirm the cities that will host matches . Meanwhile , the Scottish FA has offered to step in to host the tournament if UEFA decides to look elsewhere . Failure to host Euro 2012 is not an option in both Kiev and Warsaw . It would be viewed as a national embarrassment .
Doubts persist about Poland and Ukraine 's ability to stage tournament in 2012 . Polish FA fighting corruption claims within its domestic league . Other issues include inadequate stadiums and a poor transport infrastructure . UEFA warned both countries to speed up its progress .