England fans have been left exasperated as their first trip to the European Championships since 2004 threatens to descend into a travel nightmare.
Hotels and flights in Donetsk, where England will play two of their three group games were virtually fully booked yesterday with the region’s top politician warning fans to stay elsewhere.
Anatoly Bliznyuk, chairman of Donetsk Regional State Administration, said: “There is a problem of five-star hotels, but it can be solved by Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, and Kiev, with people living there, and coming to matches in Donetsk.”
But it is not just the top range hotels that are all booked up, mid-range and lowly B&Bs are also unable to provide space for supporters.
French headstart
Top travel writer Simon Calder, said: “The French got in their first as they were announced earlier, us poor Brits have simply been squeezed out.
“Donetsk is twinned with Sheffield but its more like Barnsley, a down-at-hill mining town with little attraction.
“It will be utterly miserable for England fans, the location is in the back end of nowhere, it is simply taking place in the worst possible location, in terms of getting there too its lousy.”
Frenchman Michel Platini, head of UEFA was also under fire, after it emerged the organisation block-booked thousands of the region’s hotels for themselves, sponsors and dignitaries, with nearly all five stars in a 250-mile radius taken.
In fact Donetsk’s official radius had to be geographically extended for the purpose of meeting UEFA’s hotel criteria.
England fans were set a major disadvantage as the nation was the last drawn out of the pot for Group D, giving rivals France and Sweden a headstart booking hotels on the internet.
The French were confirmed for Donetsk at 5.40pm on Friday, a full 15 minutes before England’s ball was revealed.
England fan Becky Arnsten raged on Twitter: “So France fans got 15 mins extra time when booking hotel rooms in Ukraine? Why didn’t they go pot 1 then 2 then 3… Oh everybody hates us!”
No hotels
Paul Raeburn, 28, an associate director at a London PR firm, got a ticket in the UEFA ballot for a quarter-final in Donetsk and has been unable to find a hotel in the city.
He said: “We’ve been speaking to people in the town, what’s happened is UEFA have block-booked the city for themselves, sponsors, and the media, and taken nearly every available hotel.
“It’s a disgrace the tournament is taking place where there is no provision for fans where the groups are being held.
“We are going to have to stay in Kiev, fly to Donetsk do an all-nighter after the game and fly back the next day as we have nowhere to stay.”
Staying out of town?
The concerns were highlighted earlier this week by Martin Kallen, UEFA’s Euro 2012 operations director.
“The worst situation is Donetsk, we are working with Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and the mayor of Donetsk to provide extra charter flights from Kiev to those matches.”
There is also going to be a rush for a giant campsite being prepared, it will have a capacity for 3,500 fans, but with the stadium seating over 50,000 and thousands more from different countries expecting to travel, it will easily fail to satisfy demand.
For those searching the scarce remaining accommodation in Donetsk yesterday, was a choice at two ends of the scale, of a £294-a-night hostel, or an apartment for
hire in the city centre for £4,000.
Add accommodation troubles to the logistical nightmare of traveling 10 hour car journeys between stadiums and next summer looks more complicated off the pitch than on it.
England play their first group game on June 11 against France in Donetsk, Ukraine, and four days later fans will need to haul themselves to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, where the team does battle with Sweden.
Kiev is a 730 kilometre drive from Donetsk, an estimated travel time of 10 hours on potholed roads with low speed limits, not factoring in heavy traffic.
This is a return journey fans will have to repeat as they drag themselves back to the 51,000 seater Donbass Arena in Donetsk for a final crunch game against host nation Ukraine on June 19.
Internet travel firm Expedia was yesterday offering no direct flights from London to Donetsk for next June, only journeys with stopovers in Poland or Germany costing a minimum £400.
Available over in Kiev were widely ranging in hotels and quality, providing poor value for money. Among the vacancies were a £3,475 suite, and a one-star B&B charging £534 for a double room.
Danger
Diehard Three Lions fans Neil Sullivan, from West London, has previously driven through the Ukraine on a rally from England to Mongolia.
He said: “It took us two and a half weeks to get to Ukraine by car. It was pretty frantic looking for somewhere to stay each night, the roads get worse as you go east, and the border checkpoints can be a nightmare.
“My abiding memory of the Ukraine was a man at a cash point who pretended to have a gun and rob me, you don’t mess around in that situation.
“Euro 2012 is going to be so expensive combined with the cost of living I am considering not going.”
Misery
While in Donetsk fans should not expect any landmarks to see in the grey-blocked mining town.
Travel guide Lonely Planet wrote: “Donetsk has almost nothing to lure the casual visitor. It only makes headlines with mine collapses or explosions. There are slag heaps dotted around, although the city won an award for cleanliness.” On further inspection, this award was granted in 1970.
The team
Mark Perryman of the London England Fans Group also criticised the FA’s decision to base the team 4,000 miles away from Donetsk in Krakow, Poland, a decision made before the draw and one Fabio Capello confirmed on Saturday he would not reverse.
He told the BBC: “It seems extraordinary to me that they felt the need to book a base before the draw was made when there was always a 50/50 chance they could end up in a different country.”
Donetsk: Factfile
– History: twice occupied by German troops 1918-20 and 1941-43,
– Twinned with Sheffield since 1956
– Local attractions: Soledar salt mine
– Business: Home to 20 coal mining companies
– Football teams: Shakhtar Donetsk, UEFA Cup winners in 2009 and Metalurg Donetsk.
– Famous faces: Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Sergiy Rebrov
– Football was introduced to the Donbass region by British employees of Donetsk’s founding father, Welsh coal and steel magnate John Hughes, who established mills and mines in the region in 1869.
– A statue of John Hughes was erected in the city in 2001.
– Today it is known as the ‘city of a million roses’ thanks to new flowerbeds planted in its centre
image: © Shamil Khakirov
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