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JUNE2012
Who will finish as Euro 2012 champions?
DRAW
Group A (Warsaw/Wroclaw) Poland (co-hosts) Greece Russia Czech Republic
Group B (Kharkiv/Lviv) Netherlands Denmark Germany Portugal
Group C (Gdansk/Poznan) Spain (holders) Italy
Republic of Ireland Croatia
Group D (Kyiv/Donetsk) Ukraine (co-hosts) Sweden France England
OFFICIAL FAI VANCOUVER SUPPORTERS CLUB
Join the Vancouver FAI Supporters Club for the 2012 Euros
By DANIEL TINNELLY
VANCOUVER - Starting June 10, Ireland will take part in their first European Championships since 1988 and the Official Vancouver FAI Supporters Club are celebrating each and every game, all the way to the final, inMahony & Sons at Burrard Landing.
Throughout the day, each game, we will be holding raffles for jerseys and scarves.
There will also be a complimentary pint for a $5 donation to our chosen charities; B.C. Cancer Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul, and the Irish Benevolent Society of B.C. Proceeds from the raffle will also go to those charities.
With Italy struggling to score in their last three games and embroiled amid the furor of yet more match fixing scandals, Croatia having a pretty poor record against us (one win in six), and Spain...well the least said about them the better, we have a good chance at progressing to the next round from what initially looked like a group of death. Traps team is injury free and hopefully will remain so for the next few weeks.
There is considerable excitement around the Euros and the Irish know how to party, win lose or draw it will definitely be an event not to miss!
We hope to bring as many Irish supporters together for this championship as possible, whether you are here one month, one year or 40 years, it'll be a fantastic chance to celebrate Ireland's sporting achievements, together, under one roof.
We're aiming to create a "feel of home" with apres match and there will be live Irish music after the games from the Vagabonds.
The second game, against Spain, is on Thursday, June 14 at 11:45 AM, preceded by the Italy-Croatia clash at 9 AM and the final game, against Italy, is on Monday, June 18 at 11:45 AM. All games will be shown live in Mahony's.
For more information, check out our facebook page: facebook.com/ FAIVANCOUVER.
Huge excitement in Northern Ireland
for Irish Open at Royal Portrush
BELFAST - The Irish Open Golf Championship at Royal Portrush is set to become a sell-out.
With Open champion Darren Clarke, U.S. Open champion Rory Mcllroy and former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell - all from Northern Ireland - lined up to play, European Tour organisers confirmed a massive demand for tickets.
Passes for the final two days, when crowds are restricted to 27,000 each day, have almost gone and more than 40,000 have already been sold for the opening two days.
The championship begins on June 28, the day after the traditional pro-am event when as many as 12,000 fans are expected on the fairways of the famous Dunluce links on the north coast.
This is the first time the Irish Open will be played in Northern Ireland since 1953 and could be the best-attended event in Europe this season, outside the Open at Royal Tytham.
Championship director Antonia Beggs said, "Over the four days we are getting near that magic 100,000-mark. We always knew it was going to be an amazing event.
"You've got three major winners from Northern Ireland and we knew interest would be high. But the level of interest has been fantastic, absolutely phenomenal."
Senior staff at the Northern Ireland Tourist Board are on a huge promotional offensive and even though Royal Portrush had just six months to get the venue ready for the biggest golf championship in over half a century - the Open was played there in 1951 - Tourism Minister Arlene Foster said the event was an opportunity to showcase Northern Ireland like never before.
"This is a time for us to shine right across the world. Our three golfing giants have helped us achieve that opportunity because of the way they've performed so brilliantly in the last two years," she said.
The European Championship kicks off in Warsaw on June 8 and finishes in Kiev on July 1. Sixteen teams will contest the tournament, including defending champions Spain and joint hosts Poland and Ukraine.
But who will get their hands on the famous Henri Delaunay Trophy? It will be interesting to watch and this year's draw throws up some fascinating group tests.
The 16 UEFAEuro 2012 contenders were placed into four hugely challenging groups by the draw which pitted Poland against Greece in the opening game of the tournament.
This will be followed by the other Group A opener between Russia and the Czech Republic.
The next day the Netherlands face Denmark in Kharkiv and Germany take on Portugal in Lviv to begin Group B, and on June 10 Group C starts as holders Spain play Italy and the Republic of Ireland are matched with Croatia.
Ukraine are involved in the last of the opening set of fixtures, meeting Sweden in Group D in Kyiv after England tackle France in Donetsk.
The group stage runs until June 19. then, after a rest day, the quarter-finals take place over four consecutive nights.
The semi-finals are on June 29 in Donetsk and the following evening in Warsaw, before Kyiv stages the 1 July decider.
MATCH SCHEDULE
All kick-offs Central European Time, Ukrainian time is one hour ahead.
Friday, June 8, 2012
# 1: POL v ORE, 18.00CET, Warsaw #2: RUS v CZE, 20.45CET, Wroclaw
Saturday, June 9, 2012
#3: NED v DEN, 18.00CET, Kharkiv #4: GER v POR, 20.45CET, Lviv
Sunday, June 10, 2012
#5: ESPvITA, 18.OOCET, Gdansk #6: IRL v CRO, 20.45CET, Poznan
Monday, June 11, 2012
#7: FRA v ENG, 18.00CET, Donetsk #8: UKR v SWE, 20.45CET, Kyiv
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
#9: GRE v CZE, 18.OOCET, Wroclaw #10: POL v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
#ll:DENvPOR, 18.00CET,Lviv #12: NED v GER, 20.45CET, Kharkiv
Thursday, June 14, 2012
# 13: ITA v CRO, 18. OOCET, Poznan #14: ESP v IRL, 20.45CET, Gdansk
Friday, June 15, 2012
#15: SWE vENG, 20.45CET,Kyiv #16: UKR vFRA, 18.00CET,Donetsk
Saturday, June 16, 2012
#17: CZE v POL, 20.45CET, Wroclaw #18: GRE v RUS, 20.45CET, Warsaw
Sunday, June 17, 2012
#19: POR vNED,20.45CET,Kharkiv #20: DEN v GER, 20.45CET, Lviv
Monday, June 18, 2012
#21: CRO v ESP, 20.45CET, Gdansk #22: ITA v IRL, 20.45CET, Poznan
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
#23: ENG vUKR,20.45CET, Donetsk #24: SWE v FRA, 20.45CET, Kyiv
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
No matches
Thursday, June 21, 2012
#25: 1Av2B,20.45CET, Warsaw
Friday, June 22, 2012
#26: IB v 2A, 20.45CET, Gdansk
Saturday, June 23, 2012
#27: lCv2D, 20.45CET,Donetsk
Sunday, June 24, 2012
#28: lDv2C,20.45CET,Kyiv
Monday, June 25, 2012
No matches
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
No matches
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
#29: W#25 v W#27, 20.45CET, Donetsk
Thursday, June 28, 2012
#30: W#26 v W#28, 20.45CET, War-
Friday, June 29, 2012
No matches
Saturday, June 30, 2012
No matches
Sunday, July 1, 2012
#31:W#29vW#30,20.45CET,Kyiv
UK court allows probe into Ryanair's Aer Ling us stake
LONDON - Ryanair faced increased pressure to sell its minority stake in rival Aer Lingus at a loss after a British court gave the competition regulator the green light to probe whether the stake is curbing competition.
Britain's Office of Fair Trading last year launched a probe into whether Ryanair's 29.8 percent holding in Aer Lingus gave it the power to influence the former state carrier's commercial policy and hampered competition.
The Court of Appeal rejected an attempt by Ryanair to challenge the OFT
move on May 22, saying the investigation was "in time" despite the fact that Ryanair began to build up its stake in 2006, the two airlines said.
Ryanair said it would appeal the decision to the supreme court.
Ryanair mounted a public takeover for all of Aer Lingus in October 2006, but the European Commission investigated the bid and decided to prohibit it in June 2007.
The commission ruled, however, that Ryanair could not be forced to sell its
stake, since Ryanair did not have de facto or de jure control of Aer Lingus.
The OFT says it is investigating whether the stake would harm UK consumers as both airlines have significant operations in the United Kingdom.
It does not have the power to force Ryanair to divest its stake, but it can refer its decision to the competition commission, which can order divestments.
Aer Lingus' share price is less than half the level it was when Ryanair began building up its stake in 2006 and would likely face a heavy loss if it sold its stake.
Aer Lingus welcomed the court of appeal decision, saying Ryanair's stake in a key competitor was "contrary to the interests of consumers and the majority of our shareholders."