European soccer's governing body will discuss delays this week in the construction of stadiums for the 2012 European Championship in the Ukraine and Poland along with rules to curb club spending.
Ukraine's new sports minister, Ravil Safiullin, told state news agency Interfax that reconstruction of Kiev's Olympic Stadium, site of the final, is more than five months behind the schedule approved by the previous cabinet. Ukraine also faces building problems with the stadium in Lviv, Martin Kallen, the project director of the Union of European Football Associations, said last week.
Kallen will brief UEFA's executive committee, which meets for two days ahead of Thursday's UEFA Congress. He said his backup plan was to host the 16-team tournament in six cities instead of the preferred eight split evenly between Poland and Ukraine.
Former Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene will give a report from the UEFA-appointed independent panel of financial and legal experts he heads that is monitoring the accounts of Europe's top clubs.
Dehaene's group is formulating financial reform rules scheduled to be announced in May. They will require club eventually to break even on soccer-related business in future seasons or face exclusion from the Champions League.
Bidders to host the 2016 Euros, the first with 24 teams, will lobby ahead of the May 28 decision. France, Italy and Turkey are bidding.
After the UEFA Congress closes Thursday, a draw will be made to determine the schedule of four Euro 2012 qualifying groups whose teams could not agree. Group B features Russia and Ireland, Group F has Greece and Croatia, Group G is headed by England and Switzerland, and Group H includes Portugal and Denmark.
