The debate about Donetsk

Hello all

The Donbass Arena
Home of Shaktar Donestk
Venue for England vs France

As regular readers know, I am a fan of the most popular sport in the world, football.....and by football I don't mean the game that is effectively rugby on steroids. I've been to a few big games in the past. I've been to Champions League finals, I've been to FA Cup and Playoff Finals, I've been to games at all 92 Football League and Premiership clubs, hell, I've even been to a triangle match (three goals, three different teams facing each other at the same time), any type of match you can imagine, I've probably been to.....except for an international tournament.

About a year or so ago I thought it would be nice to go to the European Championships that are taking place later this year, so me and two people from work applied for tickets. We initially planned on going to three games but that eventually went down to one, and it was going to be in my prefered choice of Donetsk. We didn't know which teams we would be watching, but just to get a ticket would have been fantastic, so when the news came through a few weeks later, we were delighted. It later turned out the game would be England vs France.

All of us got quite excited and started planning, but it was at this point that issues started.

External view of the Donbass

However, then the other two people started getting reservations with regards to plane flights and the fact there were very few hotels within a reasonable distance of the stadium, and both pulled out, meaning I was left on my own effectively. Now initially I was like "fuck it then, I'll go on my own.....but on my own in the middle of the Ukraine is not an ideal situation, so I thought that when the ticket arrives, I'll sell it.

Skip forward and it's now 10 weeks until the game and I am suddenly finding myself wanting to go again, but the negatives far outweigh the positives when debating whether to go. I mean it is just another stadium and it's not particularly unique in it's design, but it just looks awesome fom the outside, especially at night, and I am very keen to see this in person.

Decisions, decisions.

Positives

• Stadium I've wanted to visit for a long time.
• Chance for a game at an international tournament and effectively complete the set

Negatives

• The Ukraine has a reputation for being less than safe
• I can't speak Ukrainian and have left it too late to learn.
• It's quite expensive
• The nearest hotel that's available is 30 miles away and it's £120 a night.
• THe seat isn't actually that great

I still want to go and probably still will end up going, but it's going to be a tough choice.