EURO 2012: the results

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04.10.2012

EURO 2012: the results

According to the results of a study conducted by the Rating Group, Ukrainians are satisfied that EURO-2012 took place in Ukraine, they highly evaluated the quality of the Championship’s organization and primarily see image and reputational gains for the country. At the same time, Ukrainians acknowledge that EURO was “too expensive” for Ukraine, and that massive misappropriation of public funds occurred during its organization.
Thus, 21% of respondents believe that the organization and hosting of EURO-2012 in Ukraine were carried out at a high level, another 54% say it was at a normal level, although it could have been better. Only 8% of respondents assessed the organization and hosting of EURO in the country as low.
77% of respondents believe that foreign fans must have been satisfied with their stay in Ukraine during EURO-2012. Only 8% hold the opposite view.
The most positive assessments of the quality of organization and hosting of EURO came from residents of the East, from younger people, and more often men. Less positive assessments were given in the West and South.
78% of respondents are convinced that EURO gave Ukraine an opportunity to show itself in a better light to Europe; only 10% think otherwise. This statement is supported equally by residents of both the West and the East.
At the same time, almost as many (75%) agree that hosting the Championship was too expensive a pleasure for the country. Interestingly, this thesis is also supported almost equally by residents of both the West and the East, and most strongly by supporters of Batkivshchyna and the Communist Party.
Almost 60% of respondents believe that hosting EURO-2012 in Ukraine gave a boost to the country’s development; a quarter disagree. This opinion is more common among supporters of the Party of Regions and among the undecided. However, it is interesting that in the West more respondents share this view than in the East and especially in the South.
At the same time, almost 70% of respondents believe that during preparations for the Championship there was large-scale embezzlement of public funds, and only 7% disagree. This view is most common in the West, Center and South of the country, and least common in the East. About half of supporters of the Party of Regions, around 70% of supporters of the Communist Party, Svoboda and UDAR, and over 80% of Batkivshchyna supporters share this opinion.
Despite all this, 73% of respondents (especially in the West and among UDAR supporters) are convinced that it is very good that the Championship took place in Ukraine. Only 16% agree with the statement that Ukraine should have отказed to host the Championship, most of them in the Center and among supporters of Svoboda and the Communist Party.
EURO ASSESSMENTS FROM THE FOOTBALL ITSELF
Almost 30% of respondents followed most matches of the Championship, from the group stage through the final; another 20% followed only the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, and every tenth watched only the final. Thus, in one way or another, almost 60% of Ukrainians followed EURO-2012.
It is worth adding that according to a Sociological Group “Rating” survey conducted before EURO (in May), almost half of Ukrainians intended to follow the matches of the Championship — already more than World Cup-2010, which attracted less than 40%. During the Championship itself, interest in EURO increased further (from 50% to 60%), mainly due to the growth of the audience for the final matches. Audience growth occurred across all age groups, and women also joined the audience in large numbers. A certain “EURO fashion” emerged.
Almost half (48%) are satisfied with the performance of the Ukrainian national team at EURO-2012, although only 12% are definitely satisfied. Among active fans, two-thirds are satisfied with the team’s performance, and a quarter are definitely satisfied.
There are also clear emotional effects here, since more than half of respondents who watched only the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (where the Ukrainian team no longer played) also expressed satisfaction with Ukraine’s performance. This suggests that these assessments were influenced by the general positive mood created by EURO-2012 as an event.
About one quarter are dissatisfied with the team’s performance (among active fans — almost 30%).
The Championship significantly increased interest in football: compared to 2009, the share of respondents who consider themselves football fans rose from 33% to 48%. This phenomenon is likely situational, since the number of hard-core fans did not change (6%), the number of active fans increased slightly (from 10% to 14%), and the number of so-called inactive fans rose sharply (from 18% to 29%).
Every fifth woman classified herself as an inactive fan (only 7% as active). Among men, one-third consider themselves active fans, and almost 40% — inactive fans.
The most active fans remain young people and city residents. In the West, football attracts significantly more interest than in the South. A direct relationship is observed: regions that did not host EURO matches increased their football fan base the least.
The fewest football fans are found among supporters of the Communist Party (mostly older people), the party “Ukraine – Forward!” (mostly women), and among the undecided. Interest in football is higher among supporters of UDAR, the Party of Regions, and Batkivshchyna.

Methodology

Survey population: residents of Ukraine aged 18 and older.
Sample size: 1,200 respondents.
Method: face-to-face formalized interviews.
Margin of error (95% confidence):
– for values near 50%: no more than 2.8%
– near 30%: no more than 2.6%
– near 10%: no more than 1.7%
Fieldwork period: September 1–11, 2012.
Due to the sample size limitation of 1,200, a separate breakdown for Donbas and North was not conducted, therefore macro-regions were consolidated into four:
- West: Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Chernivtsi
- Center: Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Cherkasy, Kyiv city, Kyiv region, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Chernihiv
- South: Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Odesa, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Sevastopol
- East: Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk