UKRAINE EURO 2012 tournament director Markiyan Lubkivskyi said he was pleased to prove doubters wrong with a huge influx of foreign visitors.
Several allegations were levelled at the country before and during the tournament including racial vilification and increased prices, all of which Lubkivskyi said had proved to be misconceptions.
“Before the tournament there were rumours and scare stories about Ukraine but I always thought it was simple to combat that,” Lubkivskyi said.
“I always believed we should concentrate on hosting the tournament in the right way and if we were good people and very friendly then we could show the world it wasn’t true.”
Ukraine has enjoyed nearly one million visitors during the tournament and Lubkivskyi said the healthy figures were important to dispel the rumours.
“This morning I have had a meeting with border services and they have told me that Ukraine was visited by 25 percent more guests than normal,” he said.
“So far we have had between 900,000 and one million guests.
“I believe that it will be even higher and that we will have well over one million by the final. That shows clearly that people enjoy coming to the Ukraine.”
