Warsaw stadium given go ahead for debut
Reuters - Tuesday 21 February 2012, 09:45
Poland's new national
stadium has got the green light to stage its first match - a friendly against Portugal on February 29 - after
numerous delays had raised questions over the readiness of the
venue less than four months ahead of the European Championships.
Warsaw's National Stadium, the last venue to be sanctioned
for the tournament Poland will co-host with Ukraine, is
scheduled to stage the opening Euro 2012 match on June 8 between
Poland and Greece and four more games, including a semi-final.
Earlier this month Polish authorities were forced to cancel
a Polish Super Cup game because of safety issues and there had
been doubts about next week's friendly with Portugal.
"It's good that the match will be able to take place there,"
Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz told a news conference
after police officials gave the friendly a green light.
Police had earlier complained the $640 million stadium,
which resembles a wicker basket sporting Poland's white and red
national colours, was technically unsuitable for their own
mobile internal communications systems.
In Poland, the emergency services must sign off all new
public buildings once they are satisfied they meet minimum
safety requirements.
Construction delays and problems gaining police approval
forced the stadium's manager to step down earlier this month.
.
The problems surrounding the Warsaw stadium has been an
embarrassment for Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his government,
which has also admitted that not all of the infrastructure
projects, especially roads connecting some of Poland's main
cities, would be ready on time.
The Olympic Stadium in Kiev, the main venue in Ukraine, is
already operational. The final will be held there on July 1.