Italy are the slight favourites to be named as host nation for the 2012 European championship on Wednesday.

It would be no surprise, though, if one of the joint bids from Eastern Europe beat them in the decision to be taken by UEFA's executive committee.

The other contenders are joint bids from Hungary/Croatia and Poland/Ukraine with the latter having received the public support of FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

Despite all the recent trouble blighting Italian soccer since their World Cup success last year, the Italians remain cautiously confident of hosting the tournament for the third time after staging a four-team event in 1968 and an eight-team finals in 1980.

Sources close to the Italians claim UEFA regard them as the "safe option" but that the vote cannot be taken for granted.

A source said: "You cannot overlook two things - the first concerns the current image of Italian football after last year's match-fixing scandal, the death of the policeman in Sicily in February and the trouble at the Roma-Manchester United match in the Champions League.

"You also cannot ignore the fact that new UEFA President Michel Platini has said that the middle-ranking countries and Eastern Europe should play a bigger part in European football.

"We are just hoping that Platini's strong links with Italy will help our bid."

All three contenders gave their final submissions to UEFA's executive committee on Tuesday.

POLISH PROBLEMS

The Polish/Ukraine bid has been beset by problems with the Polish government removing the country's football association from power in January following a scandal involving corrupt referees.

But having met with Blatter and taken action to prevent such future problems, Poland's President Lech Kaczynski is confident it should have no bearing on UEFA's choice.

"Over 70 persons have been arrested on this issue," Kaczynski told a joint news conference with Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko in Cardiff on Tuesday night.

"I think we have done enough to be forgiven and stop such practices happening in the future."

FIFA threatened to ban Poland from international competition at one stage as they stood firm on their stance against governments becoming involved in their nation's football association.

The bid was also in danger of being undermined by the political climate in Ukraine. A presidential decree dissolved parliament to call a new election next month, but Yushchenko said that resolving the issue democratically would prove his country was heading in the right direction.

"I don't want people making a tragedy out of what is happening in Ukraine," he said.

"The political crisis will be resolved without force. We should react with democratic methods. This is a political crisis and it should be resolved by politicians."

Kaczynski added: "One prominent European politician asked me is there the possibility of war breaking out in Ukraine. I told him it is completely impossible and what the president said confirms this statement."

(China Daily via Reuters April 18, 2007)