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
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- 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 Â '' 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