2012 European Le Mans Series, Schedule
Following the ELMS decision to no longer share races with the FIA World Endurance Championship (formerly the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup), the series required new races to replace the Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone races which now were part of the WEC. Circuit Paul Ricard was the only event carried over from 2011 and remained the season opener. Circuit Zolder was supposed to serve as the second round of the series, but on 1 April the race was cancelled due to a lack of entrants. ELMS teams were instead invited to enter the 6 Hours of Spa WEC round.


2012 European Le Mans Series, Schedule
Following a small number of entries at Donington, the season's two later rounds at the Brno Circuit and Autódromo Internacional do Algarve were cancelled. In place of these two rounds, an agreement was reached with the American Le Mans Series to allow ELMS competitors to participate in the Petit Le Mans for double points, with the ELMS providing transport assistance to full-season teams.


2012 European Le Mans Series, Regulation changes
The Le Mans Series made changes to its class structure for the 2012 season, eliminating one previous class while adding another. The LMP1 Le Mans Prototype category were no longer featured in LMS races due to the large amount of LMP1 factory teams which switched from the Le Mans Series to the World Endurance Championship. This move promotes the LMP2 category to the top of the class structure. To replace LMP1, a new class has been created at the bottom of the class structure, named GTC.


2012 European Le Mans Series, Regulation changes
This class allowed only three cars from various one make series to compete: The Ferrari 458 Challenge, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, and the Lotus Evora GT4. Teams in GTC were not allowed more than one professional driver in their line-up. Finally, the Formula Le Mans category was renamed LMP Challenge, aligning with the title utilized by the American Le Mans Series.


2012 European Le Mans Series, Championship Standings
Points are awarded to cars that finish in tenth place or higher, with unclassified entries failing to complete 70% of the race distance or entries failing to reach the finish not earning championship points. One bonus point is awarded for winning pole position (denoted by bold). Double points will be awarded at Petit Le Mans.


2012 European Le Mans Series, Teams Championships
The top two finishers in the LMP2, GTE Pro, and GTE Am championships earn automatic entry to the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.


2012 European Masters Athletics Championships
The eighteenth European Masters Athletics Championships were held in Zittau, Germany, Zgorzelec, Poland and Hrádek nad Nisou, Czech Republic, from August 16–25, 2012. The European Masters Athletics Championships serve the division of the sport of athletics for people over 35 years of age, referred to as masters athletics.


2012 European Masters Athletics Championships
The championships were held in three locations near the German/Czech/Polish border.


2012 European Masters Athletics Championships
Less countries participated compared with the last championships in Nyiregyhaza, but just over 700 more athletes participated, giving it the third greatest attendance of any championship run by European Masters Athletics ever.


2012 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 30th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held from 23 to 27 May 2012 at Montpellier. The senior and junior events are different. During the senior's qualification the top eight teams progress to the team final, and the top eight gymnasts (two per nation maximum) on each apparatus qualify for the individual finals. After the qualification for the juniors the team medals and places are awarded. Unlike the seniors in this event the top 24 gymnasts (two per nation maximum) compete in the all around final.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship
The 2012 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the tenth edition of the men's continental handball tournament, which was held in Serbia between 15–29 January 2012. Sixteen teams qualified for the event, including host nation Serbia, defending champion France and fourteen national teams through the qualifying tournament. The teams were split into four groups of 4, with the top 3 teams of each group advancing to the main round, carrying the points won against other qualified opponents. Going to the main round with no points, Denmark ended up winning the championship after defeating Serbia in the final with a scoreline of 21–19.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship
The bronze medal was claimed by Croatia, who defeated Spain 31-27 to win their second bronze and fourth European medal overall. In the placement match for the 5th position Macedonia proved to be too strong for Slovenia and won the match by 28–27. Macedonian right back Kiril Lazarov led his team with 8 goals to success and took the top scorers' award with a European Championship record of 61 goals. Over 300,000 spectators were present in 47 matches during the tournament, which was also a new championship record.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship
By winning the European title, Denmark directly qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, while Serbia and Macedonia secured a spot in the Olympic Qualification Tournament. Thanks to the Danish triumph, Poland also made it to the qualifiers as the eighth ranked team of the 2011 World Championship.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship
Denmark, Serbia and Croatia as three best-ranked teams qualified directly for 2013 World Men's Handball Championship.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship
The championship was somewhat overshadowed by incidents that occurred during the final week of the event. On 26–27 January, in violent attacks, cars were damaged or set on fire, and several Croatian supporters were injured. In the semifinal match between Serbia and Croatia, Žarko Šešum, the back player of the Serbian team had his eye severely injured after a bottle intended for Croatian player Ivano Balić and coach Slavko Goluža was thrown at him.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Background
The EHF decided that Serbia would host the tournament in the cities of Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad and Vršac. Germany and France were the other applicants for the championship.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Qualification
The 2012 Championship was the second for which the new qualification system was used.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Venues, Audience
Serbian and Macedonian fans in Belgrade Arena, Serbia vs Germany


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Referees
On 12 September 2011, 12 couples were announced in Vienna.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Seeding
The draw was held on 15 June 2011 in Belgrade at 12:00 local time. The seeding was announced on 13 June 2011.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Group stage
The match schedule was released and confirmed on 18 April 2011. Four teams were selected to play in the four venue cities, Serbia in Belgrade, Macedonia at Niš, Hungary at Novi Sad and Croatia in Vršac. The playing schedule was announced on 1 July.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Main round
Group stage results between teams that qualified for the main round were carried over.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Main round, Group I, Initial standing and matches
(A) and (B) indicates from which group the teams came; in the main round they were playing only against teams from the other group. By three victories and the misfortune of among others Germany, Denmark qualified for the semifinals together with the host, Serbia. Notable results were Denmark's last second win against Macedonia and Poland's turnaround of first-half 9-20 result to win second half by the same numbers to equalize against Sweden.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Main round, Group II, Initial standing and matches
(C) and (D) above indicates from which group the teams came, in the main round they are only playing against teams from the other group.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Knockout stage, Final
The final was played at the Belgrade Arena between the host-nation Serbia and Denmark, and was seen by 19,800 spectators. The teams played a match against each other in the group stage of the tournament, when Serbia defeated Denmark 24–22. Serbia's coach Veselin Vuković could not rely on Žarko Šešum, whose left eye was injured after he was hit with a bottle on the halftime break of the semi-final match against Croatia.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Knockout stage, Final
The match started with tough play by both teams and low scoring. Denmark claimed the lead in the early phase of the match and controlled the period. Serbia's attacks were ineffective, and goalkeeper Darko Stanić made several saves. The Danes made fewer mistakes in the attacks and Anders Eggert scored important goals in the counter-attacks. Denmark led at halftime 9–7.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Knockout stage, Final
Early in the second half Denmark took an 11–7 lead, but then the Serbian players halted the opponent's run with a better play in defence, except for Mikkel Hansen who scored with his powerful shots in the critical moments of the game. The Danes were having the lead all the time with a margin of 1–4 goals and thanks to the saves of their goalkeeper Niklas Landin Jacobsen prevented the Serbians to level the result.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Knockout stage, Final
The last minutes of the game were played with many mistakes on both sides, but Hansen scored the decisive goal for peerless lead 21–18 with 20 seconds to go. Serbia scored until the end making it 21–19 in favor of Denmark at the end. This was the second title for Denmark after they have previously won the European Championship in 2008.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Ranking and statistics, Final ranking
The final ranking for places 7 to 16 was determined by the team's group stage record. In case the ranking would have been relevant for Olympic qualification, there would have been a placement match for 7th and 9th place.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Controversies, Riots
On 24 January 2012, after the match between Croatia and France, Serbian hooligans attacked Croatian fans in several locations in Vojvodina, northern Serbia. In Novi Sad, Croatian supporters were heading home after the game, when they ran into a road block and some 50 masked men assaulted them with stones, bricks and axes, smashing windscreens. The attack left several supporters injured and one of them hospitalized. In Ruma, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) south from Novi Sad, a Croatian van was set on fire and one of the passengers stabbed with a knife.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Controversies, Riots
A day later the unrest continued and many cars were damaged, torched, or burnt out throughout Novi Sad. The Croatian Foreign Ministry officially complained to Serbian Ambassador Stanimir Vukicevic over the attacks; Vukicevic expressed regret and stated that the Serbian police was already taking the necessary steps. Thirteen people were arrested in connection with the incident, including Ivan Ključovski and Jovan Bajić, leaders of a fan group from Novi Sad, and a member of the Obraz right-wing organization. After questioning, all of them remained in custody for a month.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Controversies, Serbia–Croatia semifinal
Serbia and Croatia met in the semi-final of the tournament, which caused further concern on both sides. About 5,000 policemen were deployed to ensure the security of the fans, while in Croatia some tourist agencies cancelled trips for the match and the Croatian Handball Federation (Hrvatski rukometni savez, HRS) also recommended not to go to Serbia as the supporters' safety might not be guaranteed. Spokesman Zlatko Skrinjar also added that the HRS had planned to organize trips for the event, however, they changed their mind due to the incidents in the preceding days. On the Croatian-Serbian border, joint checkpoints were set up to prevent hooligans and other groups who have no ticket for the match to enter Serbia, and to escort the fans with tickets from the border to Belgrade.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Controversies, Serbia–Croatia semifinal
The police reported that there were no incidents during the match, which was eventually won by the Serbians 26–22, however, a bottle actually meant for Croatian playmaker Ivano Balić and coach Slavko Goluža hit Serbian back player Žarko Šešum, severely injuring his eye. Šešum's eye suffered significant bleeding. After the trauma he had only minimal vision on the affected eye, but the risk of permanent sight loss was reportedly averted.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship, Controversies, Serbia–Croatia semifinal
Morten Stig Christensen, Secretary of the Danish Handball Federation, Serbia's opponent in the final said that he was "severely shocked" by the incident and so were the people from the European Handball Federation with whom he spoke. Christensen also added that he was shocked that although there were more than five thousand security personnel at the stadium, the hooligans still managed to sneak in Roman candles and laser lights.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship qualification
This article describes the qualification for the 2012 European Men's Handball Championship.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship qualification, Qualification system, Seeding
The draw for the qualification round was held on 31 January 2010 at the EHF headquarters, in Vienna, Austria. Serbia (host nation), and France (defending champion), were directly qualified. 39 teams (including Serbia) had registered for participation. 37 teams competed for 14 places at the final tournament in 2 distinct Qualification Phases. In each phase, the teams were divided into several pots according to their positions in the .


2012 European Men's Handball Championship qualification, Qualification system, Seeding, Seeding for Qualification Phase 2
The seedings were completely known after the playing of the final week-end of the 2010 European Men's Handball Championship.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship qualification, Qualification system, Tiebreakers
If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship qualification, Qualification Phase 1
The participating teams were the 12 lowest ranked according to the . They were:  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  Cyprus,  Estonia,  Finland,  Great Britain,  Georgia,  Israel,  Italy,  Latvia,  Luxembourg and  Turkey. The 12 teams divided into 3 groups, with the 3 winners advancing to the Qualification Phase 2.


2012 European Men's Handball Championship qualification, Qualification Phase 2
There were 28 teams participating at this phase. They were drawn into 7 groups of 4 teams with the first 2 in each group qualifying for the 2012 European Men's Handball Championship. The teams participating at this phase were:


2012 European Men's Handball Championship squads
Every team has to submit a roster of 16 players. On December 16, 2011 an official squad list was published. On January 16 the official squad list was published.


2012 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships
The 2012 European Men's and Women's Team Badminton Championships was held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from February 14 to February 19, 2012. This tournament also serves as European qualification for the 2012 Thomas & Uber Cup.


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship
The 2012 European Mixed Curling Championship was held from September 30 to October 6 at the Milli Piyango Curling Arena in Erzurum, Turkey. In the final, Scotland, skipped by Ewan MacDonald, defeated Sweden, skipped by Rickard Hallström, with a score of 8–4.


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Red Group
Third: Stephane Verganud Second: Nathalie Leveque Lead: Michel DuverneAlternate: Anne Claire Beaubestre


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Red Group
Third: Elettra de Col Second: Alberto Alvera Lead: Violetta CaldartAlternate: Marco Mariani


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Red Group
Third: Evgeniya Demkina Second: Sergey Manulychev Lead: Ekaterina Kuzmina Alternates: Vadim Raev, Valeriya Shelkova


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Red Group
Third: Valentina Jurincic Second: Jost Lajovec Lead: Nadija PipanAlternate: Anja Kresnik


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Red Group
Third: Manuela Siegrist Second: Romano Meier Lead: Manuela Netzer-Kormann Alternates: Rolf Hösli,  Jenny Perret


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Blue Group
Third: Eva Stampachová Second: Marek David Lead: Michala Souhradová Alternates: Erik Sikl,  Klara Bousková


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Blue Group
Third: Lauren Pearce Second: Kerr Alexander Lead: Naomi Robinson Alternates: Kenneth Maxwell,  Angharad Ward


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Blue Group
Third: Elif Kızılkaya Second: Ahmet Uysal Lead: Öznur Polat Alternate: Muhammet Oǧuz Zengin


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Green Group
Third: Antonija Leko Second: Dario Sojcic Lead: Ines Misanec Alternate: Domagoj Jakopovic


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Green Group
Third: Andrea Schöpp Second: Florian Zahler Lead: Imogen Lehmann Alternate: Adolf Geiselhart


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Teams, Green Group
Third: Zsanett Gunzinam Skip: György Nagy Lead: Agnes Szentannai Alternates: Monika Szarvas, Laszlo Kiss


2012 European Mixed Curling Championship, Round robin results
All draw times listed in Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3).


2012 European Modern Pentathlon Championships
The 2012 European Modern Pentathlon Championships were held in Sofia, Bulgaria from July 4 to 10, 2012.


2012 European Mountain Running Championships
The 2012 European Mountain Running Championships were held on 7 July at Pamukkale in Denizli, Turkey. They were that year's area championships for mountain running, held by the European Athletic Association in conjunction with the Turkish Athletic Federation. The competition featured four races, with senior and junior races for both men and women. A total of 163 runners from 21 nations started the competition.


2012 European Mountain Running Championships
The men's race was 12.2 km long and featured an ascent of 700 m. The women's and junior men's races were 8.3 km long comprising a rise of 470 m. The junior women's race was 4.4 km over a hill of 240 m.


2012 European Mountain Running Championships
Ahmet Arslan from Turkey took his sixth consecutive men's title, while Swiss Monika Furholz won the gold medal in senior women's category. Italian senior men's and British senior women's teams were the champions. In the junior men's category, Turkish Ahmet Özrek became the champion. Annabel Mason from United Kingdom was the gold medalist in junior women's race. Turkish junior men's and junior women's teams took the gold medals in team ranking.


2012 European Mountain Running Championships
The event was dominated by the host nation Turkey, which won in total eight medals (four gold, three silver and one bronze) in six categories. It was the senior women's race, at which Turkey was not able to win any medal.


2012 European Mountain Running Championships, Participation
A total of 21 nations had athletes, which took part in the 2012 Championships.


2012 European Open Water Swimming Championships
The 2012 European Open Water Swimming Championships was the fourteenth edition of the European Open Water Swimming Championships (but the sixth stand alone after 1989, 1991, 1993, 2008 and 2011 editions) and took part from 12 to 16 September 2012 in Piombino, Italy.


2012 European Pairs Speedway Championship
The 2012 European Pairs Speedway Championship was the ninth edition of the European Pairs Speedway Championship. The final was held in  Rivne, Ukraine on 22 September. The Ukraine won their first title.


2012 European Pairs Speedway Championship, Semifinal 1
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fellns - non-starter • nc - non-classify


2012 European Pairs Speedway Championship, Semifinal 2
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fellns - non-starter • nc - non-classify


2012 European Pairs Speedway Championship, Final
m - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t - exclusion for touching the tapes • x - other exclusion • e - retired or mechanical failure • f - fellns - non-starter • nc - non-classify


2012 European Pool Championships
The 2012 European Pool Championships   was a professional pool tournament held 21–31 March 2012 in Alvisse Parc Hotel in Luxembourg City hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF). The disciplines were played eight-ball, nine-ball, ten-ball and straight pool in the categories Men's, Ladies and wheelchairs. The wheelchair users played for the titles only in 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball. The most successful player was the Finnish wheelchair user Jouni Tähti who won two events, the Spaniard Francisco Díaz-Pizarro and the Austrian Mario He each won event and reached a semi-final in another once.


2012 European Pool Championships, Format
The event was first played in all categories in a double-elimination tournament followed by a single-elimination tournament from the quarter-final onwards.


2012 European Pool Championships, Team event
The team competitions initially took place in a double elimination event. From the quarter-finals (men) or from the semifinals (ladies) was played in a single elimination format. One team consisted of three players. A game consisted of three individual games in the disciplines 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball. In the women's team, two players were in each team, one game consisted of two individual games in 8-ball and 9-Ball.


2012 European Rally Championship
The 2012 European Rally Championship season was the 60th season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season consisted of eleven (twelve planned) rallies, beginning with the Internationale Jänner Rallye in Austria on 5 January 2012 and concluding with the Rallye International du Valais on 27 October 2012. After 8 rounds, Finnish driver Juho Hänninen secured the championship, winning four events.


2012 European Rally Championship, Calendar
The calendar for the 2012 season featured twelve rallies, the eleven rallies from the previous season plus the  Internationale Jänner Rallye in Austria. Two events were shared with the Intercontinental Rally Challenge: Ypres and Zlín. However one event, the Rallye d'Antibes Côte d'Azur, withdrew from the ERC during the season.


2012 European Rally Championship, Championship standings, Drivers' championship
For the final classification in a rally, the winner got 25 points, the runner-up 18 and the third placed driver 15. Drivers ranked 4 to 10 got 12–10–8–6–4–2–1 point(s). Additionally, the top five of every leg got 7–5–3–2–1 point(s). Drivers had to start in a minimum of 4 events in order to qualify for the final standings and at least one event in either half of the season. Only the 4 best results from both half-seasons counted towards the final standings.


2012 European Rally Championship, Championship standings, Drivers' championship
Note: The "4+4" column lists the 4 best results from both halves of the season, and only if the driver competed in at least one event in each half. The "all" column lists the total number of points, but only if they differ from the other column.


2012 European Rallycross Championship
The 2012 European Rallycross Championship was the thirty sixth season of the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers. The season consisted of ten rounds and started on 8 April with the British round at Lydden Hill Race Circuit. The season ended on 30 September, at Germany at Estring.


2012 European Road Championships
The 2012 European Road Championships were held in Goes, Netherlands, between 9 and 12 August 2012. The event consisted of a road race and a time trial for men and women under 23 and juniors. The championships were regulated by the European Cycling Union.


2012 European Rowing Championships
The 2012 European Rowing Championships is the sixth edition of the European Rowing Championships, since they were reinstated by decision of FISA in 2006. The event was held in Varese, Italy, between 14 and 16 September 2012.


2012 European Senior Tour
The 2012 European Senior Tour was the 21st season of the European Senior Tour, the professional golf tour for men aged 50 and above operated by the PGA European Tour. Roger Chapman won the Order of Merit and Tim Thelen won the most events, three.


2012 European Senior Tour, Tournament results
The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the number of career wins they had on the European Senior Tour up to and including that event. This is only shown for players who are members of the tour.


2012 European Senior Tour, Tournament results
For the tour schedule on the European Senior Tour's website, including links to full results, click .


2012 European Senior Tour, Leading money winners
There is a complete list on the official site .


2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships
The 2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships was held in Chartres, France, from November 22 to 25, 2012.


2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships
The event was held over four days with heats, semifinals and a final for the 50 m and 100 m events and heats and a final for all other events with the exception of the women's 800 m and men's 1500 m freestyle which are heat declared winners. Heats were held in the morning, with semifinals, finals and the fastest heat of the distance freestyle events in the evening.


2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships
Each nation was permitted to enter four swimmers into each individual event, however only the fastest two were able to progress to the semifinal and/or final.


2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Medal summary, Men's events
Legend: WR - World record; WBT - World best time; ER - European record; NR - National record; CR - Championship record


2012 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Medal summary, Women's events
Legend: WR - World record; WBT - World best time; ER - European record; NR - National record; CR - Championship record


2012 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships
The 2012 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships took place between 27 and 29 January 2012 in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic.


2012 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships
The original bronze medalist in men's overall competition was Thibaut Fauconnet of France but he was later disqualified for doping offence.


2012 European Shotgun Championships
The 2012 European Shotgun Championships were held in Larnaca, Cyprus from May 19-25, 2012.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships
The 2012 European Speed Skating Championships was the 37th continental speed skating event for women and the 106th for men, that was held at the City Park Ice Rink in Budapest, Hungary, from 6 to 8 January 2012. The competition was also a qualifying event for the 2012 World Allround Speed Skating Championships as the entry quotas were allocated according to the results of the European Championships.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships
In the absence of defending champion Ivan Skobrev, who did not participate due to an injury, Dutchman Sven Kramer took the men's European title. This was his fifth victory, having won previously four consecutive European Championships between 2007 and 2010. Kramer also ran track records both in the 1500 meters and 5000 metres event, and his overall score of 156.197 is the best ever result at the City Park Ice Rink as well.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships
In the women's competition previous year's gold medalist Martina Sáblíková retained her title, achieving her third European success in row and fourth overall. Sáblíková also set a new track record in 3000 metres with a time of 4:16.09.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships
Further two records were beaten over the weekend, both in 500 metres. On the first day of the championships, Sáblíková's compatriot Karolína Erbanová set a new best time, and a day later Konrad Niedźwiedzki of Poland ran a track record on the shortest distance.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Venue
The competition took place at the City Park Ice Rink, an outdoor artificial skating rink situated in the downtown of Budapest. Prior to the championships, the rink went through a renovation and modernization for a fee of 4.7 billion Hungarian Forint (approximately €16 million), of which 3 billion came from the European Regional Development Fund. As a result, the main building was restored to its 19th-century look, the ice surface was expanded by 15 percent and a 210 kilometres (130 mi) embedded cooling system was laid down as well. The races were held on a standard track of 400 meters with outer curves of 29 meters and inner curves of 25 meters radii. Both racing lanes were 4 meters wide, with an additional inside training track of the similar width.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Participating nations
A provisional list of competitors and staff had to be presented until 19 December 2011, while the final deadline of applications for the European Championships was closed on 3 January 2012. Every European member federation of the International Skating Union (ISU), whose racer met the qualification criteria were eligible to delegate one participant to the event, and, according to the rules of the ISU, the following nations had the right to enter additional competitors in virtue of their results in the previous continental event:


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Participating nations
Eventually 54 competitors from 18 nations registered officially for the championships, not including the substitutes, in the following distribution:


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Participating nations
Although registered for the event, Kaitlyn McGregor from Switzerland and Joel Eriksson from Sweden did not participate at the European Championships.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Events, Women's competition
The women's European Championship were held over three days, with the 500 metres and the 3000 metres event in the first day, followed by the 1500 metres event on the second day. Skaters were awarded points according to their times, and the twelve best placed competitors after the second day were eligible to participate in the 5000 metres closing event on the last day of the championship.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Events, Women's competition
The first fourteen skaters earned a spot for their countries for the 2012 World Allround Championships, which means that the Netherlands got four, Russia, Germany Norway and Poland three and the Czech Republic one place.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Events, Women's competition
The entries for the 2013 European Championships were also determined using the results of the European Championships. Countries with at least three skaters in the first twelve earned four entry positions (Netherlands), countries with at least two skaters in the first sixteen earned three quotas (Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Poland, Russia), and countries with at least one skater in the first twenty earned two places for the next continental championship (Austria, Belgium). All other European ISU members have the right to delegate one skater, subject to the qualifying time limits are met.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Events, Men's competition
The men's event took place on Saturday and Sunday, with the 500 metres and the 5000 metres race at the first day and the 1500 and 10,000 meters final race in the second day. After the first day, the best 24 out of the 29 skaters got the change to participate in the 5000 meters event, while the best 12 competitors after three events took part in the 10,000 meters race.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Events, Men's competition
According to the ISU rules, the fourteen best placed skaters won for their country an entry spots for the 2012 Allround World Championships. Based on the final result, the Netherlands earned four places for the World event, Norway and Poland got two, and Belgium, France, Germany, Latvia and Russia got one each.


2012 European Speed Skating Championships, Events, Men's competition
The places for the 2013 Allround European Championships were also distributed using the classification of the European Championships. Countries with at least three skaters in the first twelve earned four spots (Netherlands), countries with at least two skaters in the first sixteen earned three (Norway and Poland), and countries with at least one skater in the first twenty earned two starting places (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Russia). All other European ISU members have got one spot, subject to the time limits set are met.


2012 European Table Tennis Championships
The 2012 European Table Tennis Championships was held in Herning, Denmark from 15–21 October 2012. Venue for the competition was Jyske Bank Boxen.


2012 European Taekwondo Championships
The 2012 European Taekwondo Championships were held in Manchester, England, from May 3 to May 6, 2012.


2012 European Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament
The 2012 European Qualification Tournament for London Olympic Games was held in Kazan, Russia from January 27 to January 29, 2012. Each country may enter maximum 2 male and 2 female divisions with only one in each division and the first three ranked athletes per weight division qualify their NOCs a place each for Olympic Games.


2012 European Tour
The 2012 European Tour was the fourth edition of the Race to Dubai and the 41st season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972.


2012 European Tour
The Race to Dubai was won by Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who also collected the Golfer of the Year award having also headed the PGA Tour money list and ascended to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking during 2012. Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year was Portugal's Ricardo Santos.


2012 European Tour, Schedule
The table below shows the 2012 European Tour schedule, which comprised 45 tournaments counting for the Race to Dubai, including the four major championships and four World Golf Championships, and one team competition. The season began in January with the Africa Open in South Africa, culminating with the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in November.


2012 European Tour, Schedule
Prior to the start of the 2011 season, the tour had announced their intention to realign the schedule with the calendar. As a result, in 2012 there were several changes from the previous season. There was initially one new tournament in 2012, the Perth International, and several tournaments were dropped: the Castelló Masters, the Iskandar Johor Open, and the Alfred Dunhill Championship, which was played in December as part of the 2013 season.


2012 European Tour, Schedule
During the season, the BMW Masters in China was added to the schedule, the Czech Open was cancelled, and three tournaments in Spain were also cancelled: the Iberdrola Open, the Madrid Masters, and the Andalucía Masters.


2012 European Tour, Race to Dubai
Since 2009, the European Tour's money list has been known as the "Race to Dubai". It is based on money earned during the season and is calculated in euro, with earnings from tournaments that award prize money in other currencies being converted at the exchange rate available the week of the event. The following table shows the final top-10 in the 2012 standings and includes the bonus pool.


2012 European Tour, Race to Dubai
Ernie Els would have qualified for the DP World Tour Championship in 7th place but failed to meet the minimum required starts of 12.


2012 European Tour, Awards, Golfer of the Month
The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award:


2012 European Tour Qualifying School graduates
This is a list of the 28 players who earned their 2013 European Tour card through Q School in 2012.


2012 European Tour Qualifying School graduates, 2013 Results
* European Tour rookie in 2013T = Tied      The player retained his European Tour card for 2014 (finished inside the top 110). The player did not retain his European Tour card for 2014, but retained conditional status (finished between 111–145). The player did not retain his European Tour card for 2014 (finished outside the top 145).


2012 European Tour Qualifying School graduates, 2013 Results
Lundberg, Goya, Korhonen, and del Moral regained their cards for 2014 through Q School.


2012 European Tour Qualifying School graduates, Runners-up on the European Tour in 2013
No Qualifying School graduates won on the European Tour in 2013; however, Peter Uihlein and Jin Jeong, both of whom missed the cut at Q School, won at the Madeira Islands Open - Portugal - BPI and the ISPS Handa Perth International, respectively. Uihlein finished 14th in the Race to Dubai and was named Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.


2012 European Touring Car Cup
The 2012 FIA European Touring Car Cup is the eighth running of the FIA European Touring Car Cup. It will consist of four events in Italy, Slovakia and Austria. The events will consist of two races run over a distance of approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) each. For the first time, five FIA categories will be eligible to enter: Super 2000, Super 1600, Super Production, SEAT León Supercopa and Renault Clio Cup.


2012 European Track Championships (under-23 & junior)
The 2012 European Track Championships are the European Championships for track cycling. The junior and under 23 riders events took place at the Velódromo Nacional de Sangalhos in Anadia, Portugal from 4 to 9 July 2012 .


2012 European Track Championships – Men's keirin
The Men's keirin was held on 21 October 2012. 27 riders participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's keirin, Results, Heats
First 2 riders in each heat qualified for the second round, remainder went to first round repechage. It was held at 11:11.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's keirin, Results, Repechages
First rider in each heat qualify for the second round. It was held at 11:45.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's keirin, Results, Round 2
First 3 riders in each heat qualified for the final, remainder went to the 7–12 final. It was held at 17:00.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's madison
The Men's madison was held on 21 October 2012. 14 teams participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's omnium
The Men's omnium was held on 20 October 2012. 13 riders participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's points race
The Men's points race was held on 19 October 2012. 25 riders participated, the heat distance was 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) – or 80 laps – with a sprint every 10 laps for extra points and the final distance was 40 kilometres (24.9 miles) – or 160 laps. A lap gained 20 points.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's points race, Results, Heats
The 10 best riders advanced to the final. The races were held at 14:55.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's sprint
The Men's sprint event at the 2012 European Track Championships of track cycling was held on 20 October 2012. The event began with 27 riders participating in a qualifying round, and culminated in a final where Russian cyclist Denis Dmitriev won the gold medal.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's sprint, Results, Qualifying
Fastest 24 riders advanced to the 1/16 finals, it was held at 10:00.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's sprint, Results, 1/16 Finals
Winner of each heat qualified to 1/8 Finals, the races were held at 10:55.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's sprint, Results, 1/8 Finals
Winner of each heat qualified to 1/4 Finals, losers went to the repêchage. The races were held at 11:41.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's sprint, Results, 1/8 Finals Repechage
The loser of the 1/8 Finals raced, winners advanced to the Quarterfinals. Races were held at 12:09.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's team pursuit
The Men's team pursuit was held on 19 October 2012. 8 nations participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's team pursuit, Results
Fastest 2 teams raced for gold and 3rd and 4th teams raced for bronze.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's team sprint
The Men's team sprint was held on 19 October 2012. 11 nations participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Men's team sprint, Results
Fastest 2 teams raced for gold and 3rd and 4th teams raced for bronze.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's keirin
The Women's keirin was held on 21 October 2012. 11 riders participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's keirin, Results, Heats
First 3 riders in each heat qualified for the final, remainder went to the 7–11 final. It was held at 11:27.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's omnium
The Women's omnium at the 2012 UEC European Track Championships was held on 20–21 October 2012. 10 riders participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's points race
The Women's points race was held on 19 October 2012. 12 riders participated over a distance of 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) – or 100 laps – with a sprint every 10 laps for extra points. A lap gained 20 points.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's sprint
The Women's sprint was held on 20 October 2012. 8 riders participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's team pursuit
The Women's team pursuit was held on 19 October 2012. 6 nations participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's team pursuit, Results
Fastest 2 teams raced for gold and 3rd and 4th teams raced for bronze.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's team sprint
The Women's team sprint was held on 19 October 2012. 4 nations participated.


2012 European Track Championships – Women's team sprint, Results
The fastest 2 teams raced for gold and 3rd and 4th teams raced for bronze.


2012 European Trophy
The 2012 European Trophy was the third European Trophy, a European ice hockey tournament held annually. It is also the seventh tournament since its predecessor, the Nordic Trophy, was launched in 2006. The regulation round started on 31 July 2012 with the South Division game between Piráti Chomutov–Slovan Bratislava, and will end on 28 November 2012. The playoffs will be played between 13 and 16 December 2012 in Vienna and in Bratislava. The preliminary schedule for the regulation round was released on 12 April 2012.


2012 European Trophy
In this year's tournament the number of participating teams was increased from 24 to 32. Also, as Red Bull Salzburg no longer hosted the playoffs for the first time in European Trophy history, they weren't guaranteed a playoff spot. Of the 128 regular round games, 20 were played mid-season (i.e. after teams had started their league seasons in their respective countries). Regarding the playoffs, there were only Quarterfinals, Semifinals as well as the Final game, meaning that the losing teams in each round were immediately eliminated from the tournament.


2012 European Trophy
On 31 May 2012, Slavia Praha announced that they were pulling out of the tournament. On 18 June it was announced that Piráti Chomutov would take over Slavia Praha's spot in the South Division.


2012 European Trophy, Tournament format
The 32 teams in the tournament are, partly based on geographical location, divided into four divisions: the West Division, the North Division, the South Division, and the East Division. Each division consists of 8 teams who will play a round-robin in their division, with an extra game against a local rival in their division, giving a total of 8 games per team. Each team is assigned four home games as well as four road games.


2012 European Trophy, Tournament format
The top two teams of each division qualify for the playoffs; however, should Slovan Bratislava and/or Vienna Capitals qualify for the playoffs as hosts (if they fail to reach one of the top two spots of the South Division), they will replace the worst second ranked team(s) out of all four divisions.


2012 European Trophy, Tournament format
Should at least two teams in the same division (or second-ranked teams) end up tied in points, the following tie-breaker format will be used:


2012 European Trophy, Tournament format
This tie-breaker format will also apply when determining which second-ranked team(s) to be replaced if the host teams Slovan Bratislava and/or Vienna Capitals fail to reach the playoffs by finishing top two in the South Division.


2012 European Trophy, Tournament format, Playing format
If a game is tied after regulation time (60 minutes), an overtime lasting for 5 minutes is played. During overtime, both teams substitute only 4 players on the ice at once (except for 3 when either of the teams has a penalized player). If no team scores during the overtime period, a shootout is played, starting with three penalty shots for both teams. If the shootout remains tied after the first three rounds, sudden death rounds are played until a winning team has been forced.


2012 European Trophy, Tournament format, Playing format
In the regulation round games, the teams get three points for a regulation-time victory, two points for an overtime/shootout win, one point for losing in overtime/shootout, and zero points for a regulation loss.


2012 European Trophy, Tournament format, Prize money
After the regulation round, the four division winners received €25 000 each, the four second-placed teams €20 000, and the third, fourth and fifth team of each division received €15 000, €10 000, and €5 000, respectively. Additionally, in the final of the Red Bulls Salute, the winning team received €50 000, while the losing finalist got €10 000. In total, €360 000 was given out during the entire tournament.


2012 European Trophy, Regulation round, Playoff team seeds
Playoff hosts Slovan Bratislava and Vienna Capitals qualify automatically. Four division-winners qualify. After this, best-scoring division-runners-up qualify to bring the number to exactly eight.


2012 European Trophy, Playoffs
The playoffs, known as the Red Bulls Salute, will take place in the Albert Schultz Eishalle, Vienna and in the Slovnaft Arena, Bratislava between 13 and 16 December 2012, with the Final game taking place in Slovnaft Arena. It will be played as a single-elimination tournament, meaning that the losing teams in each round are eliminated from the tournament. For the first time in Red Bulls Salute history, no classification/placement games will be played, so there will only be Quarterfinals, Semifinals as well as the Final game. The winner of the Red Bulls Salute will be awarded a total prize sum of €50 000, and the losing finalist receives €10 000.


2012 European Trophy, Playoffs, Bracket
The non-home teams will be seeded according to their score in the regulation round.


2012 European Trophy, Playoffs, Quarterfinals
The quarterfinal matchups will be determined by the regulation-round record of the six playoff teams aside from the two automatically qualified hosts Slovan Bratislava and Vienna Capitals. The top-ranked team of these six teams will face the sixth-ranked team; the second-ranked team will face the fifth-ranked team; the third-ranked team will face Vienna Capitals; and the fourth-ranked team will face Slovan Bratislava.


2012 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Final standings
The following is the final standings of the playoffs. However, note that because there weren't any classification/placement games in this year's playoffs, the standings for the six teams that missed the Final game were ranked on the following criteria: A. whether the team made it to the Semifinal or not, and B. the team's regulation round record.


2012 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are shown.


2012 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties In Minutes; POS = Position  positions: F = Forward; D = DefencemanSources:  and  Updated as of 19 August 2012.


2012 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.


2012 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = ShutoutsSources:  and  Updated as of 19 August 2012.


2012 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, European Star Award leaders
The European Star Award is a three stars award given to the three best players in each game. The first star gets three points, the second gets two points, and the third gets one point. List shows the top ten players based on the number of European Star Award points.


2012 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, European Star Award leaders
GP = Games played; Pts = Points; POS = Position  positions: G = Goaltender; F = Forward; D = DefencemanSource:  Updated as of 19 August 2012.


2012 European Trophy games
This is a complete list of the regulation round games for the 2012 European Trophy, a European ice hockey tournament. The regulation round began on 31 July 2012 with the South Division game between Piráti Chomutov–Slovan Bratislava, and ended on 28 November 2012.


2012 European Trophy games
For a list of the rivalry games, the extra game for each team, see 2012 European Trophy#Rivalries.


2012 European Trophy games, West Division
Games in Finland are UTC+3, while all other games are UTC+2, except the 28 October game which is UTC+1.


2012 European Trophy games, North Division
Games in Finland are UTC+3, while all other games are UTC+2, except the  November games which are UTC+1.


2012 European Trophy games, South Division
Games in Finland are UTC+3, while all other games are UTC+2, except the November game which is UTC+1.


2012 European Trophy games, East Division
Games in Finland are UTC+3, while all other games are UTC+2, except the November games which are UTC+1.


2012 European Truck Racing Championship
The 2012 FIA European Truck Racing Championship was a motor racing championship using highly tuned tractor units producing over 1000 bhp. It was the 28th year of the championship and Jochen Hahn won the title for the second year with MAN.


2012 European Truck Racing Championship, Championship standings, Drivers Championship
Points were awarded on a 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top 10 finishers in races 1 & 3 of each meeting; and on a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top 10 finishers in races 2 & 4 of each meeting. All scores counted towards the championship.


2012 European Truck Racing Championship, Championship standings, Teams' Championship
Points were awarded on the same scale as the Drivers' Championship, with non-registered teams being ignored.


2012 European Universities Games
The 2012 European Universities Games, were the first European Universities Games, hosted by Córdoba, Spain  between July 13 and 23, 2012.


2012 European Universities Games, Bid selection
The 1st edition of EUG was attributed by EUSA in March 2010 during the Executive Committee meeting in Vilnius. Other candidates were also Lisbon, Portugal and Łódź, Poland.


2012 European Universities Games, Sports
Following is a list of the sports that was contested at the 2012 European Universities Games:


2012 European Universities Games, Participating nations
All member countries of the European University Sports Association were invited to take part in the 2012 European Universities Games. At the moment of invitation, the European University Sports Association counted 43 members.


2012 European Universities Games, Participating nations
Eventually Córdoba hosted 2583 participants in 253 teams from 151 universities coming from 32 countries.


2012 European Weightlifting Championships
The 2012 European Weightlifting Championships was held at Kepez Basket Hall in Antalya, Turkey from 9 April to 15 April 2012. It was the 91st edition of the event.


2012 European Weightlifting Championships, Schedule
The competition days were split in A and B groups.


2012 European Weightlifting Championships, Medals tables
Ranking by all medals: "Big" (Total result) and "Small" (Snatch and Clean&Jerk)


2012 European Weightlifting Championships, Participating countries
275 athletes from 36 countries will participate in the championship.


2012 European Weightlifting Championships – Women's 48 kg
The women's competition in the flyweight (– 48 kg) division was held on 9 April 2012.


2012 European Weightlifting Championships – Women's 48 kg, Records
Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows.


2012 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 29th European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held from 9 May to 13 May 2012 in Brussels.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship
The 2012 European Women's Handball Championship was held in Serbia from 4 to 16 December. Originally the tournament was scheduled to be held in the Netherlands but on 4 June 2012 the Dutch Handball Federation withdrew from the organization. Subsequently, the European Handball Federation (EHF) launched a new bidding process and eventually selected Serbia as the new host on 18 June 2012.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship
Montenegro captured their first title by defeating defending champion Norway 34–31 in the final.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship, Host selection
Initially on its meeting on 27 September 2008 the EHF awarded the championship to the Netherlands, beating the bids of Germany and Serbia. This could have been the second time for Netherlands to host the tournament, however, on 4 June 2012 the Dutch Handball Federation announced they are unable to organize the European Championship. A day later the EHF re-launched the host selection process; ten nations had shown interest in organizing the competition, including Croatia, Denmark, Iceland, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Sweden. Romania added their interest the day after.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship, Host selection
On 18 June 2012 the EHF granted the organizational rights to Serbia and also disposed of the fate of the Dutch national team. Since Serbia, the new host already qualified for the European Championship, the place reserved for the host nation was passed to Iceland as the best non-qualified team and the Netherlands were pulled out from the tournament.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship, Venues
Five venues in four cities had been selected to host the matches:


2012 European Women's Handball Championship, Qualification
Qualification matches were played from September 2011 to June 2012. Following the new system introduced for the 2010 Men's Championship, all teams were included in the qualification round, except Netherlands who were hosts before the withdrawal. Teams were divided in 7 groups and the two top ranked teams from each group qualified.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship, Seeding
The draw was scheduled to be held on 6 June 2012 at 14:00 local time in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The draw procedure was announced on 15 May. It was canceled because of the withdrawal of the Dutch Handball Federation. The draw was rescheduled to 22 June 2012 in Monaco. The pots were new assigned due to the removal of the Netherlands and the addition of Iceland.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship, Preliminary round
The draw was held on 22 June 2012. The playing schedule was released on 13 July.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship qualification
This page describes the qualifying procedure for the 2012 European Women's Handball Championship.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship qualification, Qualification system, Seeding
The draw for the qualification round was held on 27 April 2011 at the EHF headquarters, in Vienna. The host country, the Netherlands, was directly qualified. The remaining 30 teams were divided into several pots according to the "EHF Women's National Team Ranking", and were successfully drawn so that each qualification group contained one team from each pot. The four lowest ranked teams, participated in a pre-qualification tournament to decide the last two spots.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship qualification, Groups
The draw for the qualification round defined the groups shown below. A provisional match schedule was elaborated and distributed to all national federations taking part in this round.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship squads
The following is a list of squads for each nation competing at the 2012 European Women's Handball Championship in Serbia.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship squads
On 5 November 2012, the official squad lists were announced and published. Of those 28-player squads, 16 were named for the final tournament.


2012 European Women's Handball Championship squads
On 4 December 2012, the official rosters were announced and published.


2012 European Wrestling Championships
The 2012 European Wrestling Championships were held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 8 March to 11 March 2012.


2012 European championships of international draughts
The 2012 European championships of international draughts were held from 16 to 22 September in Emmen, Netherlands over 9 rounds Swiss-system tournament. There were 68 participants from 25 countries, including, 24 grandmasters, 9 international masters and 12 masters of the FMJD.


2012 European championships of international draughts
The winner was Alexei Chizhov from Russia, silver was for Guntis Valneris from Latvia, third was Pim Meurs from the Netherlands.


2012 European general strike
The 2012 European general strike, first known as the 2012 Iberian Strike was a general strike called initially by Spanish and Portuguese unions on 14 November 2012, to whom several unions and collectives from other European countries joined in strike or other form of protests.


2012 European general strike
It was the first time in History that a European Union-wide series of strikes coincided in time. General strike was called in Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, Italy  and Spain, while protests and mobilizations of support occurred in France, Greece and in Wallonia, Belgium.


2012 Euskaltel–Euskadi season
The 2012 season for Euskaltel–Euskadi began in January at the Tour Down Under. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event in the UCI World Tour.


2012 Euskaltel–Euskadi season
The team experiences a managerial change, as Igor González de Galdeano left the post at the end of 2011 season, and was replaced by the man named, Miguel Madariaga. Madariaga has stated that he was taking the position only for 2012 and will leave before 2013, perhaps not coincidentally when the Basque government will remove or at least greatly reduce their financial commitment to the team.


2012 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Death of Victor Cabedo
On September 19, 2012, squad member Victor Cabedo died in a training accident near his home of Onda, following a collision with a vehicle, subsequently falling into a ravine. He was 23.


2012 Eva Joly presidential campaign
European MP, Eva Joly began a campaign for the French Ecologist presidential primary for President of France in May 2011. Eva Joly announced she was running for president in August 2010. On 29 June 2011 she won the ecologist nomination with 58.16% of the votes over the TV presenter Nicolas Hulot after a disputed campaign. At the first round of the presidential election, she received 2.3% of the vote, and subsequently endorsed Socialist Party candidate François Hollande for the second round. Her main campaign promises revolved around ending nuclear power within 20 years and creating a million eco-jobs.


2012 Eva Joly presidential campaign, Polls
After the ecologist primary, in July, she had about 6% of the votes but since March, she is about 3% of the votes.


2012 Evansville Rage season
The 2012 Evansville Rage season was the first season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) franchise.


2012 Evansville Rage season
On November 16, 2011 the team announced its intentions to compete as full members of the CIFL for the 2013 season. The Rage had also already named their head coach on the same day, naming Mike Goodpaster to the position. Goodpaster was most recently the Defensive Coordinator of the Northern Kentucky River Monsters of the Ultimate Indoor Football League. On December 9, 2011 it was announced that the Rage were going become the final expansion team for the 2012 Continental Indoor Football League season.


2012 Evansville Rage season
On March 6, 2012, owner and general manager, David Reed, resigned from the duties due to an illness in his family that requires his full attention. The same day, the Rage announced Eddie Cronin as the team's General Manager. Cronin had been a part of the organization from the start as the defensive coordinator. He continued to keep his position as defensive coordinator.


2012 Evansville Rage season, Players, FInal roster
Rookies in italics updated April 30, 201225 Active, 0 Inactive, 3 PS


2012 Evansville Rage season, Regular season results, Week 2: vs Indianapolis Enforcers
With the victory, the Rage collected their first ever franchise victory. The Rage were led by quarterback Nate Samas who put the first points on the board with a four-yard keeper under two minutes into the game. Samas also added five touchdowns through the air. Rage running back Joe Casey played a versatile role in the victory as well. Casey racked up two rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. Wide receiver Dusten Dubose compiled three receiving touchdowns from quarterback Nate Samas and receiver Terrence Wright  added one receiving touchdown. During the game, the Enforcers set a franchise record for points scored in a game, with 35. Their previous high had been 19.


2012 Evening Standard Theatre Awards
The 2012 Evening Standard Theatre Awards were announced on 25 November 2012. The shortlist was revealed on 12 November 2012 and the longlist on 29 October 2012.


2012 Everett Raptors season
The 2012 Everett Raptors season was the team's third season as a professional indoor football franchise and third in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of sixteen teams competing in the IFL for the 2012 season, the Everett, Washington-based Everett Raptors were members of the Intense Conference.


2012 Everett Raptors season
Under the leadership of owner/general manager Mike Berry and head coach Sean Ponder, the team played their home games at the Comcast Arena at Everett in Everett, Washington.


2012 Everett Raptors season, Roster
Rookies in italics updated June 5, 201225 Active, 8 Inactive


2012 Ex-Yu Cup
The 2012 Adecco Ex-Yu Cup was the second edition of this tournament, created with the aim to create a new Cup for the Ex-Yugoslavia countries. Only four teams played in second edition. Macedonia, who played the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and Montenegro withdrew of the competition. The tournament was held at the Slovenian Arena Stožice once again.


2012 Exeter City Council election
The 2012 Exeter City Council election took place on 3 May 2012, to elect members of Exeter City Council in Devon, England. The election was held concurrently with other local elections in England. One third of the council was up for election; the seats up for election  were last contested in 2008. The Labour Party gained overall control of the council, which had been under no overall control since 2003. The Liberal Party was wiped off the council.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series
The 2012 Extreme Sailing Series was the sixth year of the series and the second year of it being a fully global event. The series started in Muscat, Oman on 28 February and ended in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 29 November and was scheduled to take place in 8 cities and 3 continents.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 1: Muscat, Oman
The starting act of the 2012 series was held in Muscat, Oman on the weekend of 28 February and 2 March 2012 and was won by Oman Air.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 2: Qingdao, China
The second act of the series, which was held in Qingdao, China was held between 19–22 April 2012 and was won by The Wave, Muscat.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 3: Istanbul, Turkey
The third act of 2012 was held in Istanbul, Turkey on the weekend of 7–10 June 2012 and was won by The Wave, Muscat.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 4: Porto, Portugal
The fourth act, held between 5–8 July 2012, took place in Porto, Portugal and was won by The Wave, Muscat.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 5: Cardiff, UK
The fifth act of 2012 was in Cardiff, Wales, the first of a three-year deal to host the event there. The event, originally scheduled to be held over the August bank holiday, actually took place the weekend after, between 31 August and 2 September 2012. This act was won by Oman Air.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 6: Trapani, Italy
Act 6, which was scheduled to take place between 13 and 16 September, did not take place as the Province of Trapani and the regional government of Sicily failed to execute their obligations necessary for hosting the event.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 7: Nice, France
The seventh act  took place in Nice, France between 18–21 October  2012 and was won by Groupe Edmond de Rothschild.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 8: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Act 8, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between 29 November and 2 December 2012. As the final act of the series, a lot was in the balance as the whole series had been closely contested. The Wave, Muscat won the Brazilian act by 0.2 points, and also took the overall trophy.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Alinghi
Alinghi is a professional sports team that was created in 2000 by Ernesto Bertarelli in order to compete in the 31st America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Alinghi
Their team consisted of Ernesto Bertarelli (Skipper/Helm), Jean-Christophe Mourniac (Tactician), Pierre-Yves Jorand (Mainsail Trim), Nils Frei (Headsail Trim) and Yves Detry (Bowman).


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, GAC Pindar
GAC Pindar, in its second year sailing Extreme 40's, is a long-time sailing team competing in the World Match Racing Tour and supporting numerous sailors across all levels of the sport.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, GAC Pindar
Their team consisted of Ian Williams/Andrew Walsh (Skipper/Helm), Anna Tunnicliffe (Tactician), Mark Bulkeley (Mainsail Trim), Adam Piggott (Headsail Trim) and Rick Peacock (Bowman).


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild
A team from the Rothschild family, the Gitana Team started in 1876, and entered the Extreme Sailing Series for the first time in 2009.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild
Their team consisted of Pierre Pennec (Skipper/Helm), Arnaud Psarofaghis (Tactician), Hervé Cunningham/Hervé Cunningham (Mainsail Trim), Romain Petit (Headsail Trim) and Bernard Labro/Bernard Labro (Bowman).


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Oman Air
This Oman Sail entry is sponsored by the national airline Oman Air.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Oman Air
Their team consisted of Morgan Larson (Skipper/Helm), Will Howden (Tactician), Charlie Ogletree (Mainsail Trim), Andy Maloney/Max Bulger (Headsail Trim) and Nasser Al Mashari (Bowman).


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Red Bull Sailing Team
Red Bull, who have been in the series since 2009, finished 6th in the 2011 series.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Red Bull Sailing Team
The crew consisted of Roman Hagara (Skipper/Helm), Hans Peter Steinacher (Tactician), Matthew Adams (Mainsail Trim), Pierre Le Clainche (Headsail Trim) and Graeme Spenceras (Bowman).


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, SAP Extreme Sailing Team
A new entry to the 2012 series, SAP Extreme Sailing Team is also an event partner and is the only team to have co-skippers in 2012.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, SAP Extreme Sailing Team
The crew consisted of Jes Gram-Hansen (Co-skipper/Helm), Rasmus Kostner (Co-skipper/Tactician), Pete Cumming (Mainsail Trim), Mikkel Rossberg (Headsail Trim) and Jonas Hviid (Bowman).


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, The Wave, Muscat
This is the second team sponsored by Oman Sail. They won the 2010 series.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, The Wave, Muscat
The crew consisted of Leigh McMillan (Skipper/Helm), Ed Smyth (Tactician), Pete Greenhalgh/Rachel Williamson (Mainsail Trim), Bleddyn Mon (Headsail Trim), and Hashim Al Rashdi (Bowman).


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Zoulou
Zoulou, a private entry to the 2012 series is skippered and helmed by a previous 2009 crew.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Core Teams, Zoulou
The team consisted of Erik Maris/Fred Le Peutrec/Loick Peyron (Skipper/Helm), Philippe Mourniac (Tactician), Jean-Sebastien Ponce (Mainsail Trim), Patrick Aucour (Headsail Trim) and Bruno Jeanjean (Bowman).


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Wildcard entries, China Team
The Chinese 'wildcard' entry was crewed by Phil Robertson (Skipper/Helm), Garth Ellingham (Mainsail Trim), Kit Cheng (Headsail Trim), Nick Catley (Bowman) and Xiaqun Song.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Wildcard entries, Team Wales
Team Wales consisted of Dave Evans (Skipper/Tactician), Tudur Owen (Co-Skipper/Trimmer), Torvar Mirsky (Helm), Ed Powys (Bowman) and Hannah Mills (Strategist) with Kate MacGregor as reserve crew.


2012 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Wildcard entries, Team Brasil
Team Brasil was the local 'wildcard' entry, crewed by Torben Grael (Skipper/Tactician), Alex Welter (Helm), Diogo Cayolla (Mainsail Trim), André Mirsky (Headsail Trim) and Marco Grael (Bowman).


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship
The 2012 UIM F1 H2O World Championship was the 29th season of Formula 1 Powerboat racing. Whilst a provisional calendar consisted of a total of nine rounds, following cancellations, an amended programme of six races, beginning in Doha, Qatar, on 10 March 2012, and ending in Sharjah, UAE, on 7 December 2012 was published by the UIM. At the penultimate race of the year in Abu Dhabi, reigning champion Alex Carella successfully defended his 2011 drivers' title, the Italian becoming a double world champion for the Qatar Team.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team changes
The eight full-time teams from 2011 continued into 2012, with an additional ninth team, Caudwell Racing from South Africa, entered. Their entry was officially confirmed in June 2011, making history by introducing four-stroke engines into the series which had been dominated in recent times by the two-stroke Mercury engines. The revolutionary engine was based on an Infiniti road car engine and featured Cosworth pistons and conrods in its design.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team changes
With Russian driver Stanislav Kourtsenovsky moving to the CTIC China Team, the part-time Jetech Tools F1 Team from 2011 didn't participate in 2012. At the beginning of May, former German driver Fabian Kalsow announced his intention to re-enter the series with a team for the latter half of the 2012 season, with a longer-term view to an entry for 2013. This failed to materialise however, but despite that, two new teams lodged entries for the final two races of the year. Former champion Jonathan Jones' hull manufacturing firm Dragon entered with British driver Malcolm Goodman driving, and a second Emirati-based team, Skydive Dubai joined the series, with 2008 champion Jay Price, having last competed themselves in 2009.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
Following the conclusion of the 2011 season, by far the biggest driver change for 2012 was the resignation of Jay Price from the Qatar Team. His replacement alongside newly crowned champion Alex Carella, was Shaun Torrente who had driven for the team alongside Price and Carella for the final two races of 2011. At the CTIC China Team, Pierre Lundin was replaced by Russian driver Stanislav Kourtsenovsky who had made two appearances during the 2011 season for the Jetech Tools F1 Team.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
F1 Atlantic Team signed Kuwaiti Youssef Al Rubayan for a full campaign in a third boat alongside the retained Tourre and Benavente whilst Filip Roms joined compatriot Sami Seliö at the Mad Croc team, replacing Davide Padovan. Ivan Brigada, having raced on one occasion for the Singha F1 Team in 2011, moved to the new Caudwell team for 2012 to partner South African Brett Stuart.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
At the first race of the year in Qatar, Khalid Al Shamlan made a one-off appearance at his home event for the Qatar Team alongside Carella and Torrente. After the race however, Rhys Coles left Team Sweden. Having driven for them for the latter half of 2011, he had been retained for 2012, but parted ways following the Qatar race.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
In the lead up to the fourth race of the season in China, then-championship leader Ahmed Al Hameli was diagnosed with a brain tumour, undergoing successful surgery in the US, but was forced to miss the Chinese round. His replacement was fellow Emirati Majed Al Mansoori. It would later transpire that Al Hameli would miss the remainder of the season.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
At the same race, Bimba Sjoholm made history by ensuring that two women would start an F1 Powerboat World Championship race for the first time when she drove the second Team Sweden boat that had been vacated since Rhys Coles left the team. She drove a brand new Molgaard hull, with teammate Jonas Andersson having debuted his at the previous race in Ukraine, switching from his previous BaBa.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
Following the race in China, Shaun Torrente had his Superlicence withdrawn by the UIM and banned for the next two races after his sixth crash in just ten races, this time also forcing Sami Seliö into retirement, and thus all but ending the Finn's championship hopes. Two weeks before the Abu Dhabi race, fellow American Terry Rinker was announced as Torrente's replacement.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
As the season entered its final stages, further changes took place throughout the field. Prior to the race in Abu Dhabi, the penultimate round of the season, along with Rinker, a further five new drivers came into the series. Team Sweden announced that recently crowned double F2 champion Erik Stark would replace Bimba Sjoholm for the rest of the year. In addition, Malcolm Goodman returned to F1 as British F2 champion having had a previous outing in 2009, and would race for the new Dragon F1 Team.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
Jay Price made his return to the series having left the Qatar Team following the 2011 season in acrimonious circumstances, entering with the other new team, Skydive Dubai, whilst fellow American and multiple champion Scott Gillman returned to the cockpit in a third Team Abu Dhabi boat. Gillman initially intended to trial a new Hartley four stroke V8 engine but later abandoned the experiment prior to qualifying, instead reverting to the normal Mercury two stroke. Finally for Abu Dhabi, Xiong Ziwei became only the second Chinese driver to enter an F1 powerboat race, driving a third boat for the CTIC China Team.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
For the final round of the year in Sharjah, Team Abu Dhabi went back to a two boat team, after the difficulties with the Hartley four stroke engine. Scott Gillman continued on with driving duties though, replacing Majed Al Mansoori in the No. 6 boat for his third race start in five years.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Season calendar
Initial plans for the 2012 season included an expanded calendar of nine events, two more than 2011. The round at Portimao was dropped, with new races planned for Venice, St Petersburg, and Perth. Following the first race at Doha, on 23 March, an amended calendar was released with just five further confirmed races, and an additional event in November still to be finalised. Ultimately however, the calendar was further shortened to six races when plans for the expected fifth round were abandoned, with the date removed from the series' official website in late October.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Results and standings
Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. A maximum of two boats per team were eligible for points in the teams' championship.


2012 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Results and standings, Teams standings
Only boats with results eligible for points counting towards the teams' championship are shown here.


2012 F1600 Championship Series
The 2012 F1600 Championship Series season was the second season of the F1600 Championship Series. Matias Köykkä won the championship in the last race of the season.


2012 F2000 Championship Series
The 2012 F2000 Championship Series season marked the seventh season of competition in the series. It consisted of 14 rounds (seven double-race weekends), beginning April 12 at Virginia International Raceway and concluding October 14 at Watkins Glen International.


2012 F2000 Championship Series
Venezuelan Roberto La Rocca of HP-Tech won 11 of the 14 races and finished on the podium in 13 of the 14. American Wyatt Gooden, who got his start through winning online video racing tournaments, finished second in points with two wins. American Niki Coello won one race and finished third. Kevin Kopp finished fourth in points and Tim Minor finished fifth, while claiming his second consecutive and third overall Masters Championship title.


2012 F2000 Championship Series, Championship standings
This list only contains drivers who registered for the championship. (M) indicates driver is participating in Masters Class for drivers over 40 years of age.


2012 F2000 Championship Series, Championship standings
1 Roberto La Rocca was penalized 25 points for failing to leave sufficient racing room for a competitor in Round 2.


2012 FA Community Shield
The 2012 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 90th FA Community Shield, a football match played on 12 August 2012 between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. The match was contested by the 2012 FA Cup winners, Chelsea, and the champions of the 2011–12 Premier League, Manchester City.


2012 FA Community Shield
The 2012 Community Shield was not played at its usual venue, Wembley Stadium, as the stadium hosted the final of the 2012 Olympic football tournament on the same weekend as the proposed date for the Community Shield. It was played instead at Aston Villa's home ground, Villa Park, in Birmingham. It was the first time since the fixture was played at Maine Road in 1973 that the Community Shield had been hosted at a venue other than Wembley (old and new) or the Millennium Stadium. Manchester City won the game 3–2 to claim their first Community Shield since 1972.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match
The 2012 Community Shield was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on ITV1. Traditionally, the Community Shield has started at 15:00 BST, but the match was due to be played on the final day of the 2012 Olympics, and therefore started at 13:30 BST.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match, Entry
Chelsea qualified by winning the 2012 FA Cup Final, beating Liverpool 2–1 in the final at Wembley. Chelsea beat Portsmouth 4–0, Queens Park Rangers 1–0, Birmingham City 2–0, Leicester City 5–2 and Tottenham Hotspur 5–1 en route to the final. The 2012 victory was Chelsea's seventh FA Cup triumph and consequently gained a berth in the 2012 Community Shield. The 2012 Community Shield will be Chelsea's tenth appearance in the fixture.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match, Entry
Manchester City qualified for their second consecutive Community Shield by clinching the Premier League title in the final minutes of the season. City made a strong start to the league season, beating rivals Manchester United 6–1 at Old Trafford in October and maintained the lead in the league for the majority of the season. However, a drop in form in March and April meant they fell eight points behind leaders Manchester United who would later drop points to Wigan Athletic and Everton.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match, Entry
City won the last six league matches of the season, including a crucial 1–0 victory over United at the Etihad Stadium on 30 April which put City top of the league with a superior goal difference. City needed to now win the final two matches to win the league, irrespective of what United did. They beat Newcastle at St James Park, meaning victory against Queens Park Rangers would seal the title for City. Although taking an early lead, QPR scored twice in the 48th and 66th minute.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match, Entry
It looked as if City had blown their chance to win the league with United winning 1–0 at Sunderland. However, two stoppage time goals – one from Edin Džeko and a last-minute goal from Sergio Agüero – completed a remarkable comeback to give City a 3–2 win. The league being decided on goal difference was the closest finish since Arsenal and Liverpool in 1989 and ensured Manchester City won their first top-flight league title since 1968. The 2012 Community Shield was Manchester City's ninth appearance in the fixture.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match, Venue
In order to avoid clashing with the Olympics, The Football Association (FA) agreed that the Community Shield would not be played in London, igniting speculation that the Community Shield would follow suit with the Supercoppa Italiana and Trophée des Champions and be played overseas. Despite the financial incentive, the FA announced that Community Shield would be held in England.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match, Venue
In previous years when Wembley has been unavailable, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was used to host major events; however, its use was not seen as viable due to its hosting of other Olympic football matches in the days leading up to the Shield. Venues that were also considered included the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, which hosted its final match at the 2012 Olympics on 7 August, St James' Park in Newcastle, the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, the Etihad Stadium, Anfield in Liverpool and Villa Park in Birmingham.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match, Venue
On 1 August 2011, however, it was announced that Villa Park was the interim choice to host the Shield, as the other, larger venues would "still be in Olympic mode". This decision was confirmed on 18 May 2012 after the football season had concluded and it became clear Villa Park would be an ideal neutral venue halfway between the two competing clubs from London and Manchester.


2012 FA Community Shield, Pre-match, Officials
The match officials for the game were confirmed on 3 July 2012. Kevin Friend of Leicestershire was named as referee, having previously been the fourth official at both the 2011 League Cup Final and the 2011 Community Shield, and refereed the 2009 FA Vase Final. Friend was assisted by Michael McDonough of Northumberland and Richard West from the East Riding of Yorkshire, while the fourth official was Anthony Taylor of Cheshire, and Charles Breakspear (Surrey) was the reserve assistant referee.


2012 FA Community Shield, Match, Details
Assistant referees:Michael McDonough (Northumberland)Richard West (East Riding of Yorkshire)Fourth official:Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)Reserve official:Charles Breakspear (Surrey)


2012 FA Cup Final
The 2012 FA Cup Final was a football match between Chelsea and Liverpool on 5 May 2012. It was the final match of the 2011–12 FA Cup, the 131st season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. Chelsea were participating in their eleventh final, they had previously won six and lost four. Liverpool were appearing in their fourteenth final, they had won seven times and lost six.


2012 FA Cup Final
Scheduled to provide a clear four-week period between the end of the English season and the start of UEFA Euro 2012, the date of the final clashed with Premier League fixtures. To avoid having the final played at the same time as league games, the match kicked off at the later time of 5:15 p.m., rather than the usual 3:00 p.m., by which time the other fixtures had ended.


2012 FA Cup Final
As both teams were in the highest tier of English football, the Premier League, they entered the competition in the Third Round. Matches up to the semi-final were contested on a one-off basis, with a replay taking place if the match ended in a draw. Chelsea's matches ranged from comfortable victories to close affairs. They beat Tottenham Hotspur 5–1 in the semi-final, while they beat Queens Park Rangers 1–0 in the Fourth Round. Liverpool's matches were similar, with three ending in a 2–1 scoreline, while the other two against Oldham Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion were won by at least four goals.


2012 FA Cup Final
Watched by a crowd of 89,102, Ramires put Chelsea in front in the 11th minute after he dispossessed Liverpool midfielder Jay Spearing and beat Pepe Reina in the Liverpool area. They extended their lead in the 52nd minute when striker Didier Drogba scored. Liverpool substitute Andy Carroll scored in the 64th minute to reduce the deficit to one goal. Carroll thought he had scored a second in the 81st minute, but his header was saved on the line by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech. Carroll ran off celebrating, as he thought the ball had crossed, but referee Phil Dowd did not award a goal and Chelsea held on to win the match 2–1.


2012 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Chelsea
As a Premier League team, Chelsea entered the competition in the Third Round, where they were drawn at home to Portsmouth. After a goalless first half Juan Mata struck early in the second, before Ramires hit two in two minutes and Frank Lampard scored in stoppage time to give Chelsea a 4–0 win. Chelsea then travelled to face local rivals Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road in the Fourth Round, where a controversial Mata penalty was enough to see them through.


2012 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Chelsea
Chelsea were drawn to play at home against Birmingham City in the Fifth Round, with Birmingham dominating the first half through a David Murphy goal. Daniel Sturridge scored in the second half to force a replay, which was played on 6 March at Birmingham, just two days after André Villas-Boas was relieved of his duties as Chelsea manager. Birmingham held Chelsea throughout the first half, and looked the stronger side at times, but after Mata and Raul Meireles scored twice in five minutes, Chelsea dominated the remainder of the game until the final whistle.


2012 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Chelsea
In the Sixth Round, Chelsea overcame Leicester City at home in a 5–2 thriller. Gary Cahill scored his first FA Cup goal for Chelsea from a corner in the 12th minute, with Salomon Kalou following up five minutes later. In the second half, Fernando Torres ended a goal drought of over 25 hours to score, before Jermaine Beckford gave Leicester a late lifeline. Torres scored again in the 85th minute to put the result beyond doubt, although Ben Marshall grabbed one back three minutes later, before Meireles scored in the 90th minute to send Chelsea through to the semi-final.


2012 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Chelsea
In the semi-final, Chelsea faced local rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. The first half was even, with both sides enjoying long spells of possession, until Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead just before the break. Chelsea scored at the start of the second half. However, Juan Mata's goal that did not appear to cross the line, but referee Martin Atkinson awarded the goal. Gareth Bale put Tottenham back in it with a goal shortly after a Petr Čech challenge on Emmanuel Adebayor.


2012 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Chelsea
Despite the goal, Tottenham never took control of the game and Ramires scored in the 77th minute, followed minutes later by a Frank Lampard free kick, and a Florent Malouda strike in the fourth minute of added time. This secured Chelsea's place in their first FA Cup Final since their 2010 triumph over Portsmouth.


2012 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Liverpool
Liverpool – also a Premier League team – entered the competition in the Third Round too. Their opening match was a 5–1 home win against Oldham Athletic. Robbie Simpson opened the scoring for Oldham in the 28th minute, but Craig Bellamy equalised just two minutes later, with Steven Gerrard scoring a penalty to give Liverpool the lead. Jonjo Shelvey scored his first goal for the club in the second half, before late goals from Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing ensured progression to the Fourth Round.


2012 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Liverpool
For the Fourth Round, Liverpool were drawn at their home ground, Anfield against Manchester United. The match took place in the wake of the racial abuse row between Luis Suárez and Patrice Evra, for which Suárez was serving an eight-match ban. Daniel Agger opened the scoring with a header from a corner, before Park Ji-sung equalised for United before half-time. With the match approaching full-time, Dirk Kuyt scored in the 88th minute to give Liverpool a 2–1 victory and secured their place in the Fifth Round. Their opponents were Brighton & Hove Albion, whom Liverpool beat 6–1 at Anfield, courtesy of goals from Martin Škrtel, Carroll and Suárez, as well as three own goals.


2012 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Liverpool
Liverpool faced Stoke City in the Sixth Round at Anfield. Suárez scored in the 23rd minute to give Liverpool the lead, before former player Peter Crouch equalised three minutes later. Downing scored in the second half to secure a 2–1 for the club and ensure their place in the semi-finals. Local rivals Everton were the opponents in the semi-final, held at Wembley Stadium. Nikica Jelavić scored in the 24th minute after a Liverpool defensive error, to give Everton a 1–0 lead. Liverpool equalised in the second half when Suárez scored after a back-pass from Everton defender Sylvain Distin. The match looked to be heading towards extra time, before Carroll headed in a Craig Bellamy free kick in the 87th minute to give Liverpool a 2–1 victory and secure their place in the final for the first time since 2006, when they defeated West Ham United.


2012 FA Cup Final, Background
Appearing in the final for the fourteenth time, Liverpool had won the FA Cup seven times previously (in 1965, 1974, 1986, 1989, 1992, 2001 and 2006), and had been beaten in the final six times (in 1914, 1950, 1971, 1977, 1988 and 1996). Chelsea were appearing in the final for the eleventh time. They had won the FA Cup six times previously (in 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009 and 2010), and had been beaten in the final four times (in 1915, 1967, 1994 and 2002).


2012 FA Cup Final, Background
Liverpool and Chelsea had previously met nine times in the FA Cup, including two semi-finals (most recently in 2006), although they had never met in the final before. Chelsea had the upper hand in those nine meetings, winning five times to Liverpool's four; however, Liverpool won both semi-finals between the two clubs, both on neutral grounds. The only domestic cup final to feature both teams was the 2005 League Cup final, which Chelsea won 3–2 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.


2012 FA Cup Final, Background
Liverpool and Chelsea had faced each other twice during the season, with Liverpool winning on both occasions. Liverpool won the first meeting in the 2011–12 Premier League 2–1, they won their second meeting in the 2011–12 Football League Cup 2–0, before winning the final against Cardiff City.


2012 FA Cup Final, Background
As Liverpool and Chelsea had been due to play one another in the Premier League at Anfield on 5 May 2012, the same day as the final, the FA announced that the league game would be postponed until Tuesday 8 May, meaning that the two sides would play each other twice in four days.


2012 FA Cup Final, Background
Both teams had injury concerns ahead of the final. Liverpool were expected to be without midfielders Charlie Adam and Lucas Leiva, who were both out with knee injuries, while Chelsea were missing defenders David Luiz and Gary Cahill to hamstring injuries. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was determined to claim a domestic double with victory in the final: "The FA Cup is special, but we got a taste of success from winning the Carling Cup. That will help the younger players in the squad. Winning breeds confidence and you want more."


2012 FA Cup Final, Background
Gerrard believed success in the final would compensate for a poor season in the Premier League: "We are all aware we have underachieved in the league and the squad of players is certainly better than where we are. We will assess the season and if we win two trophies I think it would alleviate the pressure slightly." Chelsea captain John Terry was hopeful Chelsea would win the final, to help caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo's hopes of getting the job full-time: "To win it [the Cup] will put himself in a very good position.


2012 FA Cup Final, Background
He's not thinking of that at the moment, he's not letting the players get distracted by anything. He's very passionate, he's Chelsea through and through, and that's certainly rubbed off on the players. So, if we can do it with the added bonus that Robbie can get the job at the end, that'd be great."


2012 FA Cup Final, Background
In addition to the later kick-off time, travelling supporters from Liverpool faced major difficulties getting to and from the final after Virgin Trains cancelled the majority of its direct services between Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston with maintenance work taking place on the West Coast Main Line over the May Day bank holiday weekend. Both teams were allocated 25,074 tickets for the final, which was 7,000 fewer than they received for the semi-finals. 17,000 tickets went to Club Wembley members, who are effectively season ticket holders at Wembley Stadium, while the remainder went to the grassroots football community.


2012 FA Cup Final, Match, First half
Chelsea kicked off and had the first shot within the first minute when Didier Drogba fired over the crossbar. Liverpool had more of the ball in the opening minutes, but striker Luis Suárez struggled to maintain possession of the ball against the Chelsea defence. Chelsea scored in the 10th minute when Liverpool midfielder Jay Spearing lost possession of the ball to Ramires; the Brazilian subsequently went past defender José Enrique into the Liverpool penalty area, where his shot went through goalkeeper Pepe Reina's legs and into the goal to give Chelsea a 1–0 lead.


2012 FA Cup Final, Match, First half
Liverpool responded by going on the attack; a Glen Johnson pass found striker Craig Bellamy, whose shot was cleared off the line by Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanović. Liverpool were still struggling to maintain possession; with Steven Gerrard playing deep in midfield, there was a lack of support for striker Suárez. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard profited from Liverpool's failure to hold on to possession when he received the ball from a misplaced Jordan Henderson pass, but his shot 40 yards (37 m) away from goal went wide.


2012 FA Cup Final, Match, First half
In the 33rd minute, a Chelsea free-kick, awarded after Ramires was brought down by Enrique, was cleared by the Liverpool defence; Enrique then had the chance to counter Chelsea's attack, but he delayed his run and was dispossessed. The first yellow card of the match was shown to Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi in the 36th minute after a mistimed tackle on Gerrard. A cross from midfielder Stewart Downing was headed out for a Liverpool corner in the 40th minute, but the subsequent corner was cleared by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech. Liverpool had another chance straight afterwards, but Suárez was unable to direct his header at goal after receiving the ball from Henderson. Towards the end of the half, Daniel Agger was shown a yellow card for his challenge on Mikel.


2012 FA Cup Final, Match, Second half
Liverpool kicked off the second half, but it was Chelsea who had the first attack. Chelsea defender Ashley Cole had space in the Liverpool penalty area, but his pass to Juan Mata was intercepted by the Liverpool defence. The Reds subsequently went on the attack and won a corner, but the ball into the Chelsea penalty area by Bellamy was cleared. Liverpool continued to attack but were denied a penalty in the 50th minute, when Gerrard went down in the Chelsea penalty area.


2012 FA Cup Final, Match, Second half
The ball was subsequently put back into the Chelsea penalty area by Downing, but Henderson could only head the ball to Chelsea players. Liverpool were made to rue their missed chances, as two minutes later, Chelsea had extended their lead. Lampard got away from Spearing and passed to Drogba on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area; he advanced past Liverpool defender Martin Škrtel and shot through the legs of Reina and into the Liverpool goal to make the score 2–0. Liverpool went on the offensive after the second Chelsea goal.


2012 FA Cup Final, Match, Second half
A Suárez shot was saved by Čech, and manager Kenny Dalglish replaced midfielder Spearing with striker Andy Carroll. The substation worked: In the 64th minute, Carroll scored when Downing won a tackle on the left-hand side of the pitch, which resulted in the ball breaking to Carroll. His subsequent shot beat Čech in the Chelsea goal to reduce the deficit to 2–1.