KIEV (Reuters) – Co-hosts Poland promised tough punishment on Wednesday for Russian and Polish fans detained for fighting at Euro 2012 and UEFA said it was determined the violence would not be repeated.

Soccer’s European governing body hoped Wednesday’s Group B match between Germany and Netherlands would quickly restore the “festive atmosphere” after Tuesday’s clashes in Warsaw, in which police fired rubber bullets and teargas and detained 184 people.

KIEV, June 13 (Reuters) – Co-hosts Poland promised tough
punishment on Wednesday for Russian and Polish fans detained for
fighting at Euro 2012 and UEFA said it was determined the
violence would not be repeated.

Soccer’s European governing body hoped Wednesday’s Group B
match between Germany and Netherlands would quickly restore the
“festive atmosphere” after Tuesday’s clashes in Warsaw, in which
police fired rubber bullets and teargas and detained 184 people.

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich stirred up a storm over his jailed rival Yulia Tymoshenko by linking her to a 16-year-old murder case and indicating he was unmoved by a boycott of Euro 2012 soccer matches by Western governments.

Tymoshenko, who is serving a seven-year sentence for alleged abuse-of-office when prime minister, has dismissed any link with the killing of Yevhen Shcherban as “absurd”, and her supporters on Wednesday accused the president of acting like a dictator.

KIEV, June 12 (Reuters) – Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin must
keep his young players’ feet firmly on the ground at Euro 2012
after victory over Sweden put them top of Group D and sent the
co-host nation into raptures.

He also has some work to do to before Ukraine’s next test on
Friday against former world and European champions France, who
drew their opening match against England 1-1.

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s national soccer team coach on Sunday defended his country against racism charges that threaten government hopes of the Euro 2012 tournament spurring integration with European democracies.

Oleg Blokhin, a former player and national sporting hero, put down his headphones and stopped listening to the translation of a question about racism during a news conference at the soccer finals which Ukraine and Poland are co-hosting.

KIEV, June 10 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s national soccer team
coach on Sunday defended his country against racism charges that
threaten government hopes of the Euro 2012 tournament spurring
integration with European democracies.

Oleg Blokhin, a former player and national sporting hero,
put down his headphones and stopped listening to the translation
of a question about racism during a news conference at the
soccer finals which Ukraine and Poland are co-hosting.

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s young players are so desperate to please their home fans at Euro 2012 that coach Oleg Blokhin fears they will be unable to restrain their attacking instincts and could leave the defence exposed.

“We’re like a good horse. The players are chomping at the bit and I need to keep them calm,” Blokhin told reporters on the eve of Ukraine’s opening Group D match against Sweden on Monday.

KIEV, June 10 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s young players are so
desperate to please their home fans at Euro 2012 that coach Oleg
Blokhin fears they will be unable to restrain their attacking
instincts and could leave the defence exposed.

“We’re like a good horse. The players are chomping at the
bit and I need to keep them calm,” Blokhin told reporters on the
eve of Ukraine’s opening Group D match against Sweden on Monday.

KIEV, June 10 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s young players are so
desperate to please their home fans at Euro 2012 that coach Oleg
Blokhin fears they will be unable to restrain their attacking
instincts and could leave the defence exposed.

“We’re like a good horse. The players are chomping at the
bit and I need to keep them calm,” Blokhin told reporters on the
eve of Ukraine’s opening Group D match against Sweden on Monday.

KIEV (Reuters) – Denmark and the Netherlands increased pressure on Ukraine to improve its human rights record at the Euro 2012 soccer finals on Saturday by meeting victims of alleged police torture in the city where opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is jailed.

The two European Union states’ sports ministers held three hours of talks on police brutality, homophobia and the need for an independent judiciary in the eastern city of Kharkiv before their nations met in a Group B match.