Football: UK Euro 2012 snub depends on England progress

(LONDON) - Britain will not decide whether ministers will attend matches in the knock-out stages of Euro 2012 until it is clear whether England have qualified, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday.

London will not be sending any ministers to group stage games at the European Championships due to concerns about "selective justice" in Ukraine.

Anger is running high across Europe over the treatment of jailed Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister, and other governments have been putting mounting pressure on Ukraine, which is co-hosting the tournament with Poland.

"Anything after those group stages is hypothetical," Hague told Sky News television.

"We hope the team do very well but the minister of sport won't be attending the early stages.

"Nobody's been invited yet to the later stages. We don't know who's going to be in them. We will keep that under review."

England have been drawn in Group D -- being contested in Ukraine -- along with the hosts, France and Sweden. Their campaign starts against France on Monday in Donetsk.

"Situations can change. We have concerns about Ukraine. It's possible for the Ukrainian government to improve the situation," Hague said.

"If we get to the later stages, we will announce what we will do then.

"We are not laying down specific conditions. If there is an improvement, we will know improvement when we see it.

"That may be unlikely over this relatively short timescale so I don't want to hold out any prospect of this changing, as things stand.

"All we can do at the moment is announce our position for the games that we know are taking place."

Other European Union countries have imposed similar diplomatic snubs.

There is only one circumstance under which England could play in Poland, should they qualify for the knock-out stages.

If England top Group D they would play in Kiev in the quarter-finals and then Warsaw in the semis should they win.

The final is being held in Kiev.