Crisis threatens Ukraine as Euro 2012 soccer host

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's financial crisis is threatening the country's ability to host the 2012 European Championship because construction projects have stalled due to a liquidity crunch.

The chairman of Ukraine's organizing committee, Evhen Chervonenko, told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that construction has frozen at about 80 percent of the hotels needed to be built for the soccer event, as banks are no longer extending loans to developers.

"For sure it (the crisis) will not help," Chervonenko said. "I don't want to think and believe that Ukraine will lose Euro."

Chervonenko said he would seek government support to help finance the construction of hotels, adding that guests and athletes could be put up on cruise ships in host cities if hotels are not ready in time for the tournament.

Airport and stadium construction remain on schedule, according to Chervonenko.

Ukraine is co-hosting the championship with neighboring Poland, but both have been warned multiple times by the Union of European Football Associations to speed preparations.

Asked whether Ukraine will host the games, Chervonenko was unsure.

"You know, I don't even want to think," he said. "If, when getting into a racing car, you think that you will crash, this will happen for sure."

Chervonenko also criticized a statement by Grzegorz Lato, the newly elected head of the Polish Football Federation, who suggested that Poland might end up co-hosting the championship with Germany. "I think Germany could join in" if Ukraine drops out, Lato told Polish TVN24 television on Thursday. He then added: "I think Ukraine will be ready on time."

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AP reporter Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

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