Mr Platini called Ukrainian hoteliers who hiked prices "bandits and crooks" Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Michel Platini, the president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), criticized Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland and Ukraine last week, over aspects of the two countries’ preparations for the tournament which begins on June 8.

Mr Platini, who visited both Warsaw and Ukrainian host city Lviv on April 12, said the pitches at each of Poland’s four host stadiums – in Warsaw, Gdańsk, Wrocław and Poznań – will need to be replaced.

UEFA’s president also expressed worries that hooliganism could rear its ugly head during the tournament.

“I hope we won’t need the police,” the AFP reported him as saying during his visit to Warsaw’s National Stadium. “But we all know that the world isn’t as nice as I’d like it to be, so of course we need security, people to protect the stadiums, to look out for the hooligans who’ll come, and that’s why the Polish government has a security system in place,” he added.

Mr Platini, who met Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych in Lviv, leveled criticism at the high cost of accommodation in that country. He called those who have hiked room rates, “bandits and crooks.”

In order to solve the problem, Mr Yanukovich has ordered his government to investigate price hikes and ensure hotel rates are kept at reasonable levels.

Asked about the situation in Poland, Mr Platini said, “I complained in Ukraine. In Poland it’s about right.” On the whole, Mr Platini said he was pleased with preparations for the tournament.