Work is frozen on hotels for 2012 football championship in Ukraine

Construction work on around 80% of the hotels needed to be built in the Ukraine for the 2012 European football championship has been frozen due to the credit crunch, according to an organising official.

According to local press, Evhen Chervonenko, the chairman of Ukraine’s organising committee, said that banks were no longer extending loans for the projects to developers. Ukraine is co-hosting the event with Poland.

Chervonenko was reported as saying that guests and participants could be put up on cruise ships in the host cities if the hotels were not ready in time for the tournament.

He is seeking government support to help finance the schemes, although stressed that the main projects – airports and stadiums – are on schedule.

Football body UEFA will decide in the first half of 2009 how many stadiums and cities will be used as venues.

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