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UEFA: Euro 2012 preparations on course

The announcement came almost exactly one year after Ukraine were given a reprieve by European football's governing body, which had refused to confirm three of their four cities as hosts because of the slow progress of work on hotels, stadiums and other infrastructure.

UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino said that two of the four stadiums in Ukraine - at Kharkiv and Donetsk - were already finished.

"Work in the four cities in Ukraine is progressing well... Kiev and Lviv are on track with some issues at airports, which are all being renovated, the projects are promising and everything will be done in time."

"We are a little behind the ideal schedule on the practical implementation of security, transport logistics and other things, but in general it is well on track and we are confident that, with the collaboration of governments, it will all be ready on time."

He said each of UEFA's 53 member associations would receive a total of 9 million euros, provided they fulfilled commitments which included taking part in lesser competitions and took part in UEFA initiatives on coaching and grassroots-level football.

UEFA have also agreed to a yearly payment of 100,000 euros to support the development of women's football, starting from 2012.

He said there were now 950,000 registered women's footballers in Europe with 45 of the 53 associations taking part in women's competitions.