Did anybody see Panorama tonight? I'm glad Wales didn't qualify for The Euro's. What a bunch of psychopaths those Polish and Ukraine fans are. If I was an England fan after watching that, I would never go out there. They even beat up some home supporters for being India. I thought this sort of violence and racism went out of football back in the 80's, but they have taken to the extremes.
The Poles have complete loonies as football supporters not sure about ukraine though, been to poland to watch a couple of games and had no problems, went on stag weekend to krakow a few years ago and had a fantastic time.
I watched the show, was really disgusted by what happened at that big match in Ukraine. What is most disgusting is that the police said beforehand that they had never seen any racist incidents at a top level Ukraine match before. So I guess it's just coincidence that when the cameras are on them there are mass incidents of fist fighting amongst rival fans with no segregation, racist incidents of innocent Indian families supporting the home team being cornered and violently beaten by racist hooligans who support the same team, and numerous clips of fans doing Nazi salutes and chanting. And the fact that the police were nowhere to be seen to help these poor folk out. The police are in denial that anything is even happening... Horrifying. Now I know that there are many fans out there who are not racist, but there's enough that are. What's worse is that these hooligans are trained and ready for violence. Many people will go to Ukraine and Poland and have a great time. My heart goes out to the minority who will go and be subjected to racial abuse in verbal and physical forms.
What I couldn't believe was that the Chief of Police said there had never been any racist gestures & chanting at the one game. I knew it could be bad out there for supporters but this has enlightened me. One place to stay away from.
UEFA have spent decades thinking hooliganism was just a British problem but there are far far worse out there in Europe and it will raise it's ugly head big time in the Euro's.
Well, the ukrainians are alot worse than the polish !! its just not worth going over there IMO. Nice women there though!!
Just think they are blowing it out of proportion though, yes there are problems over there the same as here, the way it was dramatised you would think that it is the majority who are hooligans not the minority. Most people going to watch games are just doing that.
Both countries will benefit hugely from this tournament so both countries should pay a heavy price if there's any trouble.
Sickening that racism is still apparent in football. Even read that Kharkiv fans attacked their own fans who were a group of Asians lads who were sitting in the family section of the stadium. How UEFA gave the right for these 2 countries to host a major sporting event like this is just simply baffling.
I watched it back last night. I found myself disgusted watching it. That Ukranian Police man looked like a right old corrupt copper. I hope those Indian supporters were okay after being assaulted by their fellow home supporters. Ukraine have come back at Sol Cambells comments today denying they have a hooligan problem despite the UK quite clearly having seen on our televisions that Ukraine and Poland have a huuuge problem with Hooliganism. It's all well and good to say that it's not the majority. Firstly we don't know what percentage it is that partake in far right hooliganism. But the minority can easily cause huge problems for people visiting for the Euro's. I wouldn't go near the place, especially after seeing them training in the woods!
As Millpond says, there's this fascination with the "English hooligans" which has probably been exacerbated by the general "Brits abroad" reputation on the continent. Britain is probably the country with the least racism in football (although, granted, there were some nasty incidents this year) but you wouldn't believe it if you read the papers.
Although i dont condone hooliganism,its good that footage of such mindless acts are shown worldwide firstly to show that it is a problem and should not be denied by the powers that be and secondly to show an idiot like Blatter and a known racist like Platini That is not just "The british disease"
Am I the only one who smiled at the irony of this remark on a thread about racism? Ok, maybe not racist but perhaps a little xenophobic & stereotypical lol
It depends though doesn't it? Like, I've lived in Ibiza and worked in hotels and resorts for 3 summers and I've dealt with mostly Europeans across a broad range of backgrounds/cultures etc, so I feel I have a fairly informed opinion on national traits/habits etc, call it what you will. The problem is, if I don't explain that before making a sweeping statement everyone just assumes I'm a bigot!