Unofficial boycott facing Ukraine over its treatment of former PM

WHILE Poland boasts political stability, there will be an unofficial political boycott of the tournament over the Ukrainian government’s treatment of its former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, 51.

The former heroine of the Orange Revolution is serving seven years in prison, a victim, the European Union claims, of “selective justice”.

With just hours before the start of Euro 2012, Mykola Azarov, Ukraine’s current premier, claimed that “Tymoshenko is not a political prisoner” and produced evidence from a US court detailing her apparent corruption over a 2009 gas supply deal with the Russians. His claim, however, is unlikely to assuage world opinion over the circumstances of her imprisonment.

Adding to Ukraine’s woes has been the criticism by Michele Platini, the Uefa president, of hoteliers in Ukraine’s host cities. He branded them “swindlers and bandits” after they hiked hotel prices up by around 1,000 per cent. Ukraine also came in for criticism from the BBC’s Panorama, which alleged violent racism was prevalent in its football stadia. Ukraine’s FA and government say the claims are exaggerated.