Sting to open Poland's first Euro 2012 stadium

Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland were left with egg on their faces Monday as a friendly against France had to be shifted to the capital Warsaw due to stadium-construction delays in the Baltic port of Gdansk."Poland won't be playing in Gdansk. The game with France will take place on June 9 at 21:00 at Legia Warsaw's stadium," Agnieszka Olejkowska, spokeswoman of Poland's PZPN football association, said on her Twitter feed.Poland's meeting with les Bleus was meant to mark the gala opening of Gdansk's PGE Arena, one of four Polish venues for the European Championships.

British pop star Sting cancelled a concert he was due to give in Kazakhstan's capital Astana on Monday, blaming violations of the human rights of striking oil workers in the ex-Soviet state.Sting said in a statement published on his website that he cancelled the concert, part of his Symphonicity world tour, after campaign group Amnesty International told him of repressions against oil and gas workers.

Poland manager Franciszek Smuda is unfazed by an embarrassing venue switch for the Euro 2012 co-hosts' friendly against France, arguing that it gives his squad a dry run for next year's contest."Every cloud has a silver lining," Smuda told reporters on Tuesday."We'll be playing two games back to back in Warsaw in the space of four days, and that's the same as at the European Championships," he added.On Monday, after several days of doubts, the Poles were finally forced to shift the June 9 match against les Bleus.

UEFA on Friday ratified the four Ukrainian cities chosen to host the 2012 European championships with the final to take place in Kiev.The four cities - Kiev, Donetsk, Karkov and Lviv - will host games with the final taking place in the capital on July 1, 2012.Ukraine is co-hosting the competition with Poland where games will be held in four venues at Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan and Gdansk.UEFA president Michel Platini, giving Ukraine the green light, said: "Around three years ago we entrusted the organisation of the Euro to Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA kicked off ticket sales for the 2012 European Championship, marking the moment by handing over free seats to a fan of co-hosts Poland.At a ceremony in Warsaw the president of European football's governing body, Michel Platini, presented Pawel Michalczak, a 34-year-old forester who lives near the Polish capital, with his prize of a ticket for Poland's three first-round matches.

UEFA on Tuesday formally kicked off ticket sales for Euro 2012, marking the moment by handing over free seats to a lucky fan of co-hosts Poland.At a ceremony in Warsaw the president of European football's governing body, Michel Platini, presented Pawel Michalczak, a 34-year-old forester who lives near the Polish capital, with his prize of a ticket for Poland's three first-round matches.

UEFA on Thursday warned against buying tickets for Euro 2012 from anywhere but its own website, saying fans risked being ripped off and unable to get into games.With only weeks until tickets go on sale for next year's European championships in Poland and Ukraine, football's continental governing body underscored that uefa.com was the only authorised channel."You can only apply for tickets on the official website," UEFA's championships' chief Martin Kallen told reporters in the Polish capital Warsaw.

Poland's football association, the PZPN, on Thursday rejected rumours that national manager Franciszek Smuda was resigning, after the Euro 2012 hosts' winless streak stretched to eight games."There is speculation that that the manager has quit. Nothing of the sort has happened. Franciszek Smuda continues to lead the team," a PZPN spokeswoman said.Smuda is facing mounting criticism of his tactics, as Poland prepare for the next edition of the European championships, just over 600 days away.