FFS.

Netherlands captain Mark van Bommel says the team’s black players were subjected to monkey chants at an open training session in Poland.
He described the alleged abuse in Krakow as a “real disgrace”.

I agree with him. Would hate to see people’s enjoyment of this tournament scarred by such idiocy.

still bemused why FIFA thought hosting it there was a bright idea

still bemused why FIFA thought hosting it there was a bright idea

+1. Makes a mockery of FIFAs anti racism campaign.

Heard this on the news this morning – didn’t FIFA try to say it wasn’t racist?!

still bemused why FIFA thought hosting it there was a bright idea

*cough* bribed *cough*

I’m fairly sure this tournament will descend into farce. The hosts will keep denying the problem until a player or team walk off, then they’ll go in heavy handed.

I can see Holland, England or France withdrawing at some point.

Terrible advert for the game, and no, Terry should not be going.

didn’t FIFA try to say it wasn’t racist?!

They said the crowd were going Boo-urns!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWmAez71uMY[/video]

Guardian Linky

I like:

“At least now we know what we can encounter,” the Holland coach, Bert van Marwijk, said with heavy cynicism. “Very atmospheric.”

football racism shocker. Next you will be telling me a large portion of the people who watch football worldwide are fat bigoted idiots.

I hope the teams have the courage to follow through with their threats to walk off the pitch if this happens during a game. They shouldn’t be expected to tolerate it, and FIFA should be the ones to bear the consequences.

Next you will be telling me a large portion of the people who watch football worldwide are fat bigoted idiots

No. The next thing I will be telling you, is that you’re an idiot to use such sweeping generalisations.

…now back on topic.*

*Awaits amusing ‘wendyball’ comment.

Next you will be telling me a large portion of the people who watch football worldwide are fat bigoted idiots.

fixed it for you

still no excuse though

Crickey, they might even have decided to let the UK, France or Spain host the event as well. Or is racist behaviour only found in Polish or Ukranian society? Perhaps the hidden Korean and Japanese version is more acceptable?

Fantastic. The BBC playing to a sensationalist agenda once again, in an effort to tarnish the Euros, right before (surprise, surprise), the London 2012 Olympic.

Will the BBC make a documentary right before London 2012 showing the riots that spread across the country last year, showing the world that this is the city that is hosting the Olympics? No.

Will the BBC inform people of the racism that happens in this country, home to the EDL, an Islamophobic hate organisation which has a considerable membership, ahead of the Olympics? No.

Will the BBC ever stop attempting to tarnish the reputation of other countries, while not mentioning a word about the crimes and colonialism committed by the West in the past ten years, the tearing apart of the Arab and Muslim world, plundering of their natural resources, and the slaughtering of a million of their civilians? No.

Some things never change. Rubbish media = rubbish, biased reporting that only shows one side.

Is it not UEFA who are responsible for the tournament?

Anyway, my prediction is that England will play 3 games then come home. It may look like failure to qualify for the knockout stages, but it may be spun as a ‘protest’.

The BBC playing to a sensationalist agenda once again

Oh do shut up. As Darcy pointed out, this is across all media, not the BBC. There’s no agenda here apart from highlighting the blight of racism. If the news reporting it continues to show how utterly unacceptable it is, then that’s another little victory.

Will the BBC inform people of the racism that happens in this country, home to the EDL, an Islamophobic hate organisation which has a considerable membership, ahead of the Olympics? No

Do you EVER actually read the news? 😕

lol, silly wendyballers. they want to play tiddlywinks, thats where its at, no padding, no messin’!

Fantastic. The BBC playing to a sensationalist agenda once again, in an effort to tarnish the Euros, right beore (surprise, surprise), the London 2012 Olympic.

What, because people will only watch one sporting event this summer so it better be the Olympics?

Will the BBC make a documentary right before London 2012 showing the riots that spread across the country last year, showing the world that this is the city that is hosting the Olympics? No.

Will the BBC inform people of the racism that happens in this country, home to the EDL, an Islamophobic hate organisation which has a considerable membership, ahead of the Olympics? No.

Well I think you’ll find there have been PLENTY of documentaries about both. Unlike Poland and Ukraine, you don’t see many deniers for the problems we have in the UK. Where there’s racism we call it racism or didn’t you spot John Terry’s impending court date?

Rubbish media = rubbish, biased reporting that only shows one side.

Yes, we should see it from the side of the racists too, after all it must be pretty shit (or is it really good, I’m not sure whether you’d want people to insult/beat up or want them to stay away) to be a racist and have foreigners with different coloured skin invited to your country!

Nobody is saying ALL poles and ALL ukrainians are racists, just there’s a problem that neither FIFA, the organisers nor the countries themselves have addressed. In the BBC documentary, the police chief said that the fans were simply pointing at the opposing fans rather than doing Nazi salutes. The footage proved that to be a lie. If the local police turn a blind eye, it’s going to be troublesome, no?

Some things never change. Rubbish media = rubbish, biased reporting that only shows one side.

Some people forget where they actually live….

A wide and free media exists in the UK

I don’t think the management of the BBC is capable of such ingenuity Alejandro!

So C’pt, perhaps by exposing racist bigotry for what it is, football made the correct choice after all. Nah, that would require ingenuity as well!

Its a bloody outrage!! We wouldn’t tolerate that in this country. Imagine including a racist in your squad, and excluding other players as they weren’t happy about the fact

Aaaaaaaaaaah – the sweet aroma of hypocrisy

Its a bloody outrage!! We wouldn’t tolerate that in this country.

Agreed, we should increase the border controls here to stop the racists entering the UK in the first place.

The point is that western media (through primarily the BBC) parrot the agenda of Western governments and never say a word against them or hold them to account, save for petty domestic politics, whilst happily engaging in the criticism of other countries. It is all about serving Britain and the US.

You can argue that the issue here is racism in other countries but ask yourself whether the BBC will air documentaries reminding people of the riots we had before London 2012 – you have my word that they will not.

For the record, even the people interviewed in that Panorama documentary have hit back at the BBC for misrepresenting their views and exploiting what they had to say, without showing the clips in which they said that they live in Poland happily and that, for the vast majority of foreigners, life is great.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jun/06/panorama-attacked-sensationalist-euro-2012-racism-claims

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2155680/Furious-Jewish-leader-blasts-BBC-sensationalising-documentary-anti-Semitism-Poland.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/06/ugly-spectre

If you think there is no agenda here, you have no idea of how the Western media works.

It’s actually UEFA that are hosting the European Championships, not FIFA.

FIFA are the idiots responsible for awarding the World Cup to the mighty footballing nation of Qatar.

EDIT: Just seen this

Is it not UEFA who are responsible for the tournament?

Yes it is.

The point is that western media (through primarily the BBC) parrot the agenda of Western governments

Course they do, cupcake.

A wide and free media exists in the UK

Hahahaha – please. This made me laugh out loud. If you think the media in this country is ‘free’ in any meaningful sense you are either deluded or ignorant. I suspect the later.

90% of articles are not researched independently by their writers, they are merely reshufflings of press releases and PR material, pumped into the media by those who have the money to do so.

Journalistic operations have been scaled back to save money to such a huge extent that virtually no journalist has the time to go out and find stories for themselves, or indeed check the facts of what they are being fed.

The media parrots the agenda of the government and plays to the mass sentiment of people in the country.

Not many people know any of the above (as can be seen on here) and it’s sad – open your eyes.

The point is that western media (through primarily the BBC) parrot the agenda of Western governments and never say a word against them or hold them to account, save for petty domestic politics, whilst happily engaging in the criticism of other countries. It is all about serving Britain and the US.

That’s right. I mean, just look at how all the major media channels, both broadcast and print, have said for the last ten years that the forays into Irag and Afghanistan have been a resounding success…

Time for people to start putting their money where their mouth is…. if they find this racist chanting as abhorrent as what they are telling us – then walk off the pitch.

I would massively respect any manager that does so…. but I really doubt that they will.

Seems that racism from proto-Nazi thugs isn’t the only problem in the Ukraine.

http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/anti-gay-violence-in-ukraine

WHAT a waste of planetary space it is.

then walk off the pitch.

Joe Hart sez no.

Seems that racism from proto-Nazi thugs isn’t the only problem in the Ukraine.

http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/anti-gay-violence-in-ukraine

WHAT a waste of planetary space it is.

*facepalm*

racism

I think racing is well gay

Rangers were recently punished for sectarian singing from their fans, Celtic for a similar offences, and rightly so.
Will these nations be handed down punishments as well as UEFA made a right song and dance about it, I’m not holding out much hope 😕

on the plus side the England team won’t get past the quarter finals so it doesn’t matter anyway.

Seems you’re not managing to sell your “Western Media Conspiracy” theory hereabouts, Alejandro…

I wonder why.

Some things never change. Rubbish media = rubbish, biased reporting that only shows one side.

Apparently the BBC has also been buying up Netherland Newspapers as part of their global conspiracy to promote the Olympics.

http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/2942/EK-voetbal/article/detail/3267323/2012/06/07/Van-Marwijk-na-oerwoudgeluiden-Weten-nu-wat-ons-te-wachten-staat.dhtml

Seems you’re not managing to sell your “Western Media Conspiracy” theory hereabouts, Alejandro…

I wonder why.

Well I never used the word ‘conspiracy’ for a start and I’m not sure I’d go that far.

But in answer to your question: it’s because they don’t know how the media in this country functions and think it is ‘free’ in a meaningful sense.

journalism student ale?

No.

…but those are some of the many reasons why I chose not to do a journalism degree 😉

I’m sure there’s a troll here somewhere……..

But in answer to your question: it’s because they don’t know how the media in this country functions and think it is ‘free’ in a meaningful sense.

My guess is that most of the people on here worked that one out in their teens, and are now in the 40’s and have a reasonable understanding of media distortion and manipulation, either by the owners of the papers, or by the news-sources that feed them. That said it still amazes me when someone reads a story from a newspaper and believes it to be true.

But the fact that the media is biased does not mean racism isn’t a problem. And rubbishing the messenger (however much you may dislike the messenger and that they only deliver certain messages) doesn’t in itself invalidate the message.

Also what’s your take also on ministers from several EU countries boycotting Ukraine because of their treatment of Yulia Tymoshenko?, a story also in most of the media. Is this part of the UK plan to promote the olympics too?