Ukraine 'confident' of staging Euro 2015

Alexander Volkov, the head of the Ukrainian basketball federation, insisted on Tuesday that he believed the 2015 European championship will take place in Ukraine as planned. Volkov, a 1988 Olympic champion, also said that Ukraine's delegation received the full support of the European division of world basketball's governing body the FIBA in Munich last week. "During our meetings with the European basketball chiefs we tried to prove that the staging of the 2015 Eurobasket is under control," Volkov told a news conference on Tuesday. He added that Ukraine's sports minister Dmitry Bulatov had personally guaranteed that the country would be able to stage the European championship. "I'm confident that we can stage an excellent tournament," he stated. However, Markian Lubkivsky, the chief of the Euro 2015 organising committee, admitted that they were waiting to get the final go-ahead from the Ukrainian government. "We are expecting a clear decision from the government to either keep the project going or suspend it," Lubkivsky said. "We understand that the situation in the country is difficult and basketball is not among the top priorities for our government. "However the event is very important for Ukraine's image. We all remember how Ukraine successfully staged Euro 2012 (co-hosting the football event with Poland) and I hope that the government will take the decision for the benefit of the country." Lubkivsky had been quoted in local media last week as saying that Ukraine was likely to withdraw from hosting the event, only for FIBA Europe to dismiss the reports. Source: AFP