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Croatia bidding to host Euro Cup

Croatia's top political and sporting officials are confident of winning the right to co-host the 2012 European Championship with neighboring Hungary.

"I'm convinced that we will host Euro 2012," Croatian federation head Vlatko Markovic said yesterday. "UEFA has no moral reason to deny us."

Croatia has failed in two bids to host the European Championship, while Hungary has missed out three times.

Markovic said a team of six scouts from UEFA -- European soccer's governing body -- were "impressed" during a three-day tour to inspect local stadiums, hotels and other infrastructure.

"They were surprised by the complete synchronization at both political and sporting levels between the two countries," Markovic said.

Croatia and Hungary are competing with Italy and a Poland-Ukraine joint bid.

But while Italian soccer has been rocked by a corruption scandal, Croatia has been tainted by a series of crowd disturbances. Last month, about 200 Croatian fans formed a human swastika during an exhibition game against Italy.

FIFA said it was investigating the incident.

Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader returned early from a visit to the US and UN headquarters to meet with the UEFA visitors.

"Even though I just came back from New York, I did not want to miss a chance to meet with the inspectors," Sanader said.
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