Final report on racism and violence at Euro 2012

This report was published in Searchlight, No. 445 (August 2012), pp. 30-31.

Racism and violence at Euro 2012
By Anton Shekhovtsov

THE EURO 2012 TOURNAMENT started on 8 June amid fears of racism and hooliganism in Poland and Ukraine. The BBC Panorama programme “Stadiums of Hate” presumably contributed the most to the spread of these fears, with Sol Campbell stating that the two countries did not “deserve these prestigious tournaments” and telling English fans to avoid travelling to Ukraine and Poland “because you could end up coming back in a coffin”. However, a fortnight before the Euro 2012 final, a number of England fans in the Ukrainian city Donetsk carried a coffin painted with a St George’s Cross and the words: “You’re wrong Campbell”. As my observations revealed, Campbell was wrong indeed at least as regards Ukraine, as not one racist incident involving Ukraine fans was reported during the tournament.

England fans vandalise trees in Kyiv, Ukraine

Summary
24 June 2012
England fans broke a tree in the centre of Kyiv before the country's match against Italy. They also attempted to vandalise another tree, as well as punching security officers.

Croatia fans displayed racist banners in Gdansk, Poland

Summary
18 June 2012
Croatia fans displayed racist banners at the country's match against Spain. UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings.

Russian football fan set off fireworks in Gdansk, Poland

Summary
18 June 2012
Russian fan set off fireworks during Spain's 1:0 win over Croatia.

Croatian and Polish hooligans clashed in Gdansk, Poland

Summary
18 June 2012
Croatian and Polish hooligans clashed ahead of the Croatia-Spain match. One Pole was injured in the fight and three Croats were arrested.

Germany fans displayed neo-Nazi banner in Lviv, Ukraine

Summary
17 June 2012
Germany fans displayed a neo-Nazi banner at a match against Denmark.

Russia fans set off and threw fireworks, displayed illicit banners in Warsaw, Poland

Summary16 June 2012
Russia fans set off and threw fireworks, as well as displaying illicit banners during the Russia's match against Greece.

England fans attempted invasion of the field of play in Kyiv, Ukraine

Summary
15 June 2012
England fans attempted invasion of the field of play at the match against Sweden in Kyiv.

Italian anthem jeered by Spain and Croatia fans in Poland

Summary
10, 14 June 2012
Italy says it will file a complaint with UEFA over the Italian anthem booing during the draws against Spain and Croatia.

Italian player Mario Balotelli subjected to racist abuse from Croatia fans in Poznan, Poland

Summary
14 June 2012
Italian football player Mario Balotelli was, again, subjected to racist abuse. This time monkey chanting came from Croatia fans during the 1-1 draw between Italy and Croatia in Poznan.

England and Sweden fans clash in Kyiv, Ukraine

Summary
14 June 2012
About 100 England fans and 200 Sweden supporters chanted loudly towards each other in the Kyiv fan-zone, but several efforts to break a line of security personnel were quickly halted.

Germany fans set off fireworks and threw missiles in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Summary
13 June 2012
Germany supporters set off fireworks and threw missiles during the country's 2-1 win over the Netherlands.

Deputy mayor of Gdansk, Poland, made "clumsy" comments about "civilised white people"

Summary
13 June 2012
In a radio interview, the deputy mayor of Gdansk Andrzej Bojanowski thanked "residents and city employees for behaving like normal civilised white people toward our guests". He later apologised for this "clumsy phrasing".

183 arrests after fighting between Russia and Poland fans in Warsaw, Poland

Summary
12 June 2012
Police in Warsaw have made more than 183 arrests relating to fighting between Poland and Russia fans. 7 Polish and 2 Russian fans were injured.

Polish hooligans attack Russia fans (video)

Polish and Russian fans clash in Warsaw, Poland

Summary
12 June 2012
Police opens fire as Polish football fans attack Russian fans marching through Warsaw, at least 3 injured.

Italy's main striker Antonio Cassano made a homophobic remark

Summary
12 June 2012
Antonio Cassano, one of Italy's main strikers at Euro 2012, has been criticised after he made a homophobic remark during an interview on Tuesday.

Russia fans attacked by 50 Polish hooligans in Warsaw, Poland

Summary
12 June 2012
About 50 Polish fans attacked Russia fans at a café in Warsaw.

Russia fans attacked by around 20 Poles in Warsaw, Poland

Summary
12 June 2012
A group of Russia fans was attacked by around 20 unidentified Polish-speaking persons upon the Russians' arrival in Warsaw. The perpetrators also tried to smash the Russians' car.

Ukrainians verbally offended by Polish radio show hosts

Summary
11 June 2012
Hosts of a popular Polish radio show on Radio Eska demonstrated hate speech and sexism in a reference to Ukrainian women in the wake of Ukraine's 2-1 win over Sweden.

An England fan punched and kicked by four men in Donetsk, Ukraine

Summary
11 June 2012
An off-duty British policeman was punched and kicked by a group of four men who he said claimed to be "Russian mafia".

Ukraine fans attempted to start a fight with Russia fans in Kyiv, Ukraine

Summary

11 June 2012
13 Ukraine fans detained by police for an attempt to start a fight with Russia fans in Kyiv fan-zone.

Italian player Mario Balotelli subjected to racist abuse from Spain fans in Gdansk, Poland

Summary
10 June 2012
Italian football player Mario Balotelli was subjected to a tirade of racist abuse from around 300 Spanish fans during the 1-1 draw with Spain.

Croatia fan invaded the pitch while others set off fireworks and threw objects in Poznan, Poland

Summary
10 June 2012
A Croatia fan invaded the pitch while others set off fireworks and threw objects during the Euro 2012 Group C match against the Republic of Ireland.

Russia fans smashed a bar in Wroclaw, Poland

Summary
10 June 2012
Four Russia fans detained by police after smashing a bar in Wroclaw.

Poland, Ireland and Croatia fans detained after a fight in Posnan, Poland

Summary
10 June 2012
Poland, Ireland and Croatia fans fight before Croatia-Ireland game.

Portugal players racially abused by Germany fans in Lviv, Ukraine

Summary
9 June 2012
Portugal players were subjected to monkey chants from German fans during Germany's 1-0 Group B win in Lviv. German supporters also threw screwed up paper at Portugal's players and let off a smoke bomb in the stands.

Czech player racially abused by Russia fans in Wroclaw, Poland

Summary
8 June 2012
Ethiopian-Czech player Theo Gebre Selassie was subjected to racial abuse by Russia fans during his country's defeat against Russia.

Ukraine, Russia fans fight in Lviv, Ukraine

Summary
8 June 2012
Ukraine and Russia fans exchanged a few punches after Russia's 4-1 win over the Czech Republic. The fight started after a Ukrainian fan had been verbally abused by several Russia fans in Lviv.

Russia fans attack Euro 2012 stewards in Wroclaw, Poland

Summary
8 June 2012
Russia fans attacked stadium officials following their team's victory over the Czech Republic in Wroclaw, Poland. Four Euro 2012 stewards were hospitalised.

English, Russian speaking fans attacked by hooligans in Lodz, Poland

Summary
8 June 2012
Around 50 Polish hooligans attacked English- and Russian-speaking fans as they drank in a pub in the central Polish city of Lodz.

Russians, Turks fined after a brawl in Warsaw, Poland

Summary
7 June 2012
Four Russian fans and two Turks fined 1000 Euros after a brawl in a Warsaw bar.

Dutch players racially abused in Krakow, Poland

Summary
7 June 2012
The Netherlands' black players were subjected to racist abuse during their open training session in the Polish city of Krakow.

Agenda

This blog will report racist and/or violent incidents at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine (8 June - 1 July 2012). Hopefully, there will be little to report.

The creation of this blog was prompted by a wave of reports of problems with racism and hooliganism in the two host countries.

My opinion on the situation regarding Ukraine can be found here -

The West on Ukraine: when ‘anti-racism’ becomes xenophobia