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There is great political prestige attached to hosting a large football (soccer) tournament, such as Euro 2012. It is an opportunity for both Poland and Ukraine to demonstrate that they can stage a major international event and that they can put on a top class show.

As well as the positive impact that it will hopefully have on their reputation, it should have these other positive impacts:

Financial: Football is big business. Sponsorship deals will bring in large sums of money, as will other forms of advertising. And there's also the revenue that will be earned from ticket sales, corporate hospitality, and merchandising. That's not to mention the ancillary non-football related money making opportunities.

Employment: Stadiums will need to be built or improved which will create work for engineers, project managers, etc. Then there's all the associated services that will need to be offered such as hospitality, catering, accommodation, transport, cleaning, etc. It may be an opportunity for these countries to entice back some of their skilled young people who have been part of a recent exodus to western Europe.

Creation of business links: Poland and Ukraine will be working with some major foreign companies to bring together all the infrastructure required to stage the tournament. It is an opportunity for Poland and Ukraine to demonstrate that they are countries (and that their companies are companies) that foreign companies should enter into business with.

Tourism: Any time that a country stages a major event, attracting the world's media, it is an opportunity to promote itself in terms of tourism. Countries like the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Estonia, have done well from tourism in recent years. This is the opportunity for Poland and Ukraine to demonstrate to fans of all the participating countries that their countries offer a warm welcome, and that they possess culture and scenery worth re-visiting. Ukraine, in particular, is not widely seen at present as a holiday destination for Westeners so maybe this is its opportunity to put that right.

Morale: They say that hosting a sporting event is good news for governing parties, who usually get re-elected on a wave of national optimism and pride. Getting such a major tournament will undoubtedly create huge excitement in these countries and may help the governments to stem the brain drain from their countries.

Sporting legacy: The sporting legacy should be two-fold. Firstly, they will hopefully be left with some great stadiums. Many eastern european stadiums are fairly dilapidated, so the opportunity to improve them will provide extra comfort for future generations of sports fans. And the stadium can probably be used for a range of sporting events so that it is not just football that benefits. The second legacy should be a future generation of footballers, as the children who watch the games will want to go on to emulate their heroes.

Learn more about this author, Simon Wright.
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