UEFA Euro 2012 bids that he was optimistic about preparations in both countries and saw no major obstacles. After a UEFA delegation visited Ukraine in September 2011, he stated the country was "virtually ready for Euro 2012." In April 2012, while on an inspection trip to the host city of Lviv, UEFA president Michel Platini labelled hoteliers as "bandits and crooks" for raising hotel prices in Ukraine for Euro 2012. President Yanukovych ordered his government to prevent hoteliers from charging inflated prices. Some hoteliers had increased prices eighty-fold, causing Prime Minister Mykola Azarov to warn that state control of hotel tariffs might be introduced.
2015 AFL finals series on the night of 12 September 2015, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Both teams had not featured in the finals for several years; with the Bulldogs making their first finals appearance since losing the 2010 Preliminary Final and Adelaide last appearing in the 2012 Preliminary Final. This marked the third final between the two teams, after they contested preliminary finals in 1997 and 1998; which were both won by the Crows in their two premiership years. In a high-scoring, energetic game, the Bulldogs scored the first four goals of the game before Adelaide kicked the next five to lead by