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UK ministers set to miss England's Euro 2012 quarter-final with Italy
Posted Thursday, June 21, 2012 by Goal.com

A member of Parliament is expected to attend the semi-final in Warsaw, should the Three Lions get there, but made no comment on the scenario that sees them make the final

UK ministers set to miss England's Euro 2012 quarter-final with Italy

The British government will continue their boycott of Euro 2012 by not sending any ministers to England‘s quarter-final against Italy in Kiev on Sunday.

Members of Parliament have so far avoided the Three Lions' group games due to human rights fears after the treatment of Yulia Tymoshenko, a jailed opposition leader, has received criticism.

 Asked if any ministers would travel to Roy Hodgson's men's first knockout game, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters: "No. They're not.

 "It reflects ministers' busy schedules ahead of the Olympics and widespread concerns about selective justice and the rule of law in Ukraine."

 If the national side manage to defeat the Azzurri then their semi-final would be held in Warsaw, the Polish capital. In that case, someone from the government is expected to attend.

 The spokeswoman continued: "If they make it and obviously we hope they do, and that game would not be in the Ukraine, then we would expect a minister to go."

 However, should England reach the final they would play in Kiev once more. The spokeswomen declined to comment on that particular scenario.

 Cameron then moved to praise Hodgson's side for qualifying top of their group, admitting that he watched the victory during the lunch break at the G20 summit in Los Cabos.

"My message [to the team] is congratulations,” he added. "I think they have shown incredible pluck and courage in the way they have fought this campaign so far and it is great they are going through from the group round undefeated.

"From what I saw it was a very good team effort and I wish them well for the next round and the game against Italy."

 The Conservative Party leader was one of the more high-profile people to call for goal-line technology to be introduced after Frank Lampard's goal that never was against Germany during the World Cup in South Africa two years ago.

 The issue has been brought up again following Ukraine being denied a goal when the fifth official failed to spot that Marko Devic's effort had crossed the line, with Sepp Blatter later tweeting that the technology is now a necessity.

 However, Cameron is not expecting the incident to change anything anytime soon, adding: "I will have to reflect a bit further, but don't expect an immediate U-turn."

Standings
    Rank Team W/D/L Pts

    Cities & Stadiums

    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia