Consumer Aid Offered for 4 Million UEFA Fans
Sixteen teams are competing in the EURO 2012 Championship in Poland and Ukraine, with the opening match taking place June 8 in Warsaw. Help with consumer problems is available from a new website and Infoline.
European authorities opened a new website and a consumer Infoline on June 1 in preparation for the UEFA EURO 2012 Championship tournament, which is expected to attract 4 million soccer fans to stadiums in Poland and Ukraine, the host countries. The site is accessible from the UEFA Euro 2012 homepage and from several others sites; it offers tips in several languages on preparing for the trip and how to seek help for consumer problems, such as delayed flights or lost luggage. Posters about the services also will be posted at popular hotels, UEFA and European Commission officials said.
EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli and UEFA President Michel Platini launched the consumer information campaign together. They said the Europe Direct Contact Centre services will answer online questions in 23 languages and the Infoline (800 007 707 from a Polish land line or mobile phone with Polish operators, +48 228 27 5474 from a mobile phone with foreign operators) will be in English, although it is operated by the Polish Consumer Federation, Federacja Konsumentów, and until July 31 will provide legal support to anyone who runs into consumer problems in Poland.
The website is http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/uefa_euro_2012/index_en.htm.
The competition is UEFA's European football championship, which takes place every four years. The opening match will take place June 8 in Warsaw, and the final will be July 1 in Kiev. Sixteen teams are competing, and eight cities are hosting matches. There are European Consumer Centres in all EU countries, but not in Ukraine.(http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/contact_en.htm) For information about the tournament, visit http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2012/matches/index.html.