By Xinhua,
Vienna : European soccer body, UEFA, president Michel Platini insisted that it was premature to talk about the relocation of Euro 2012 scheduled to be held in Ukraine and Poland.
Rumours have suggested that infrastructure problems could lead to the event being relocated. But Platini, who will visit both countries in the coming weeks, has refused to confirm or deny such rumours.
“I don’t want to talk about that during the European Championship,” he said. “I know that certain people are already talking about the possibility of giving the competition to another country, which could be Spain. At the present moment, however, that’s an unfounded rumour.”
Platini also revealed that in future the European Championship could take place at the beginning of the season to combat player burn-out.
“I have already talked about the possibility of playing the Euros a bit later in the year, in August, after the players’ holidays, when they will be more fresh,” Platini said.
UEFA will also consider the plans to expand the tournament from its current 16 teams, to possibly as many as 24.
“We’re talking about it here in Vienna,” Platini said. “But we’ll study it in September in Bordeaux. And there we will make a decision after hearing all the opinions and if we expand it, it won’t take place until Euro 2016.”