Sales of tickets for English football fans for their side's Euro 2012 games in Donetsk against France and Ukraine went poorly, a senior official of a fan representation organization was on Tuesday quoted as saying in a report.
"The tickets haven’t sold very well. I think, for the games against France and Ukraine here in Donetsk, the English FA have only sold about two thousand tickets for English fans," said Kevin Miles, Director of International Relations for England’s FSF (Football Supporters Federation).
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Remaining Donetsk tickets reserved for English fans - estimated by the Interfax news agency at some 4,000 seats - have been returned to Europe's body UEFA, Miles said, in comments posted by the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk. Ukrainian media have cited long flights, poor local service standards and sky-high room prices as key barriers for international fans wanting to travel to Donetsk, an industrial city some 580 kilometres south-east of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, and some 2,750 kilometres from London. Most major Donetsk hotels reportedly sold out available rooms for Euro 2012 game dates months ago. The lodging situation in the city is now improving slightly, Miles said.
"There have been some problems at the beginning of the scheme with our accommodation. But walking round the city today, we have seen the stickers in windows, and it’s a good sign that businesses locally have been prepared to join up with the scheme," he said.
England plays Sweden, France and tournament co-host Ukraine in Euro 2012's Group A, with two games scheduled in Donetsk and one in the capital Kiev. Of the seven national sides scheduled to play Euro group matches only two - the French and the Swedes - elected to base their sides in the former Soviet republic. England chose a training base near the Polish city of Krakow. Poland and Ukraine co-host the tournament from June 8 until July 1. dpa sbk bag Author: Stefan Korshak