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UEFA EURO 2012 - unrealistic dream or economic chance? |
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On 8 November 2005 UEFA accepted proposal from three organization committees for hosting UEFA EURO 2012.
Poland-Ukraine candidature is one of them. For those who were involved in the preparation of the first phase bid documentation – Polish Football Federation, previous Minister of Sport Mr Ciszewski and KPMG, the official advisor – as well as many football funs it was a decision they were waiting for very much. Many other seem to be more pessimistic about probabilities for Polish-Ukrainian candidature to succeed in the next phases.
By Mirosław Proppe, Director, Advisory, KPMG Sp. z o.o.
We are competing against Italy, strong and well known football country and with Hungary and Croatia. These two proposals have their advantages – better sport infrastructure in Italy (but all their stadiums require modernisation), better tourist infrastructure in Croatia, historical track record of Hungary (applying for EURO for the third time). On the other hand we cannot underestimate facts like number of citizens (around 80 mio in Poland and Ukraine) or political needs of Ukraine to be part of European events.
KPMG is involved in preparation of the Polish offer since April 2005. We have seen the great involvement and engagement of all the six cities selected for hosting Championships. We have analysed both economic and social impact of the EURO in Portugal (2004) and in Austria-Switzerland (2008). We believe that organisation and hosting of EURO is a great and realistic chance for Poland.
What Poland needs to do now?
Poland needs to start actions in the following areas: 1) political support and marketing, 2) infrastructure development and 3) preparation of formal presentations and documentations for the second phase of the bid. Political support needs to be done both on national government as well as applying cities levels. They need to show commitment but also promote Poland and each city during international meetings and visits. There can be nothing worse than official persons showing their disinterest and lack of commitment.
Within infrastructure we generally need the three following items: stadiums, hotels and airports and last but not least intercity roads. Stadiums are already in the plans and quite often actions of local (city) authorities. They will be modernised or build anyway – despite EURO will be given to Poland or not. The local authorities already see the need of the sport infrastructure. All of the six stadiums have already 100% or at least over 50% of financing secured. The favourite decision of UEFA may only speed up construction and modernisation and convince additional sponsors, if necessary. According to our estimates, the current financial needs for stadiums are amounting to around 500 mio EUR.
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Hotels are totally private business and investment. Once organisation of EURO 2012 is given to Poland, private investors will see the opportunity for growth. Top class hotels investments required for the Championships VIPs, teams and officials are forecasted for another 500 mio EUR.
Roads and motorways are the largest challenge. Their construction is co-financed from central budget. Public tender law is not perfect and is allowing long tendering procedures, with protests and refusals both from tender organisers and bidders. Also regulations regarding land ownership and purchase for public reasons and malfunctioning. On the other hand, major roads required for EURO are already partially constructed (southern motorway from German border to Wrocław, Katowice (Chorzów) and Kraków; western motorway from German border to Poznań and Warsaw). One may expect that UEFA decision for Poland should only positively influence the legal and operational actions by the central government.
The opportunity arising before Poland is really of a national importance and may be a catalyst for many important investments. Portugal government was accused by the publics that their involvement in building of stadiums will lead only to embezzlement and corruption. Open communication and appointment of public auditor for the whole project allowed to gain public support for the project. Scotland-Ireland joint bid for Euro 2008 (won by Austria-Switzerland) was not selected due to “existing good stadiums and road infrastructure” – as UEFA officials informed the unsuccessful bidders. London proposal won the Olympics not only thanks to professional proposal, but also very much thanks to professional PR and marketing activities – everyone could see that Londoners are proud to fight for win.
What is needed now is detailed planning and staring working on all the issues before Poland and Ukraine. The Polish Official Committee has been established. Funds are proposed in the government’s budget amendments. Professionals are required to be employed for that work to rich the end result – hosting of EURO 2012 in Poland. |
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