Chain of support, come here on Saturday

Already this Saturday, on 14th October 2006, an attempt at beating the Guiness record for the world’s longest football scarf will be held in the streets of Warsaw. This scarf will be made of about 8 thousand scarves weaved on the occasion of submitting Poland-Ukraine bid to host European Football Championships UEFA EURO 2012.

The chain of support will be made on 14th October, on Saturday, starting from 2 p.m. in Nowy Świat street in Warsaw.

The chain of support is an element in the social campaign launched in early October to promote the idea of hosting the finals of EURO 2012 in Poland. So far in the frames of the campaign, apart from advertising – in the press, on TV, radio and on billboards - residents of 4 cities, candidates to host the games: Warsaw, Wrocław, Poznań and Gdańsk, could express their support by coming to custom-designed support goalposts. During 5 days of the campaign over half a million Poles expressed their support. Additionally in many Polish cities over a million post-its have appeared promoting the address of the website www.e2012.org, where internauts can also vote in support of hosting EURO 2012 in Poland.

- The social campaign aims at providing the public at large with information on the fact that Poland is bidding to win the rights to host an event of such high importance. But the most important thing is to show what Poles, our country, can attain and achieve through this event – stresses Piotr Gawron, the Director General of the Staff for EURO 2012 Project. – Winning the tender would give the biggest opportunity so far for development and promotion of our country – he adds.

An effect of winning the tender, apart form hosting the Championships, can be investments in highways, roads, parking lots, airports, railway, hotels, overhauls of city centers. Other investments will also strengthen – currently modest – sport infrastructure of Poland. A listing of potential benefits can go on forever.

At the very same weekend, during football matches, subsequent happenings will be held. At selected stadia, during matches of extraclass, football fans will create a "wave of support ". On the wave supported by animators, huge balls with the logo of Poland-Ukraine bid to host UEFA EURO 2012 will float around the stadia.

- One of the factors assessed by UEFA during selection of the host of each EURO is the social support for the idea to host European Championships in a given country - says Piotr Gawron, the head of the Staff for EURO 2012 Project.

Whether Poland jointly with Ukraine become hosts of Europe’s football feast in 2012, will be announced in April 2007.

e2012.org, 13th October 2006