Ukraine in Euro stadium blow

Platini: Expressed concerns

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Ukraine is searching for a new firm to renovate the Euro 2012 final stadium in Kiev amid a row with the original bid winner.

The country's deputy sports minister Rostyslav Karandeyev said negotiations had ended with the Taiwanese firm Archasia Design Group because of difficulties about the company's legal status in Ukraine.

But Archasia President Eric Hsu hit back, saying in an e-mailed response that "the decision it (the ministry) made is groundless" and that documents about the company's status had not been requested in April, when the company won the tender, nor in May.

He added that Uefa had asked the Government to provide a project outline and site survey of the stadium but that neither had been produced, delaying further work.

Dispute

The dispute comes just days before a visit by Uefa president Michel Platini, who complained in January that preparations have been too slow, so fuelling rumours that Ukraine and joint hosts Poland could lose the right to stage the competition, which the European Governing Body has denied.

Built in the 1920s, Kiev's 84,000-capacity Olympic Stadium is one of four stadiums in Ukraine to be used for the tournament

Deputy sports minister Karandeyev says a jury assessing competing projects would meet this week to find a replacement firm and present the new proposal to a Uefa executive board meeting in Vienna.

All 15 companies which took part in the original competition in April would be allowed to resubmit bids, except Archasia.