[gapyearstudent]

are there any black/asian people going to euro 2012???

are you worried about the reaction you might receive?

[cyfer]

Yeah I would advise caution if you are from a coloured background. However don't make it seem generic. Every country has its scum. Poland/Ukraine just have a bit more, which happen to be slightly more violent.

[yothi5]

Poland/Ukraine + football does not mix in the first place.

[gapyearstudent]

i know nothing about football and the processes but how did they get to host it??

is there a vote or does someone just pick the countries out of a hat?

[undertaker1]

i found panorama absolutely disgusting. a real eye opener.

i wanted to go poland aswell to study dentistry but after watching that i am having second thoughts.

[gemnomnom]

(Original post by cyfer)
Yeah I would advise caution if you are from a coloured background. However don't make it seem generic. Every country has its scum. Poland/Ukraine just have a bit more, which happen to be slightly more violent.

Don't trivialize it, mate.

[gapyearstudent]

I had no idea this sort of thing still went on until watching panorama tonight, but it makes me wonder if this is something that happens at EVERY match or did they seek out the ones that attract more racism

[Casshern1456]

(Original post by cyfer)
Yeah I would advise caution if you are from a coloured background. However don't make it seem generic. Every country has its scum. Poland/Ukraine just have a bit more, which happen to be slightly more violent.

your country is quite messes up mate.

[jblackmoustache]

The reaction you'd probably get from your average Polish/Ukrainian football fan would be one of suprise and also intrigue. I mean Eastern Europe in general is more homogenous than Western Europe. To be honest though I wouldn't feel safe on the streets of Poland and Ukraine alone as a black man. I mean the police are corrupt and the governments are also corrupt.


It's a death/accident waiting to happen: drunken English thugs + drunken Polish thugs + drunken Ukranian thugs + racism + football = TROUBLE. I can predict though that a lot of the trouble will be in Ukraine. As said it's a poorer country and Polish people (the younger generation anyway) are much more exposed to Western Europe.

the whole situation is pathetic. Why are places such as Poland, Ukraine and Quatar allowed to hold tournaments anyway? Quatar hates gay people (homosexuality is banned) and Poland and Ukraine are infamous for racism. It's sad though because I can bet a majority of fans over in Poland and Ukraine who aren't racist and beating foreigners and rival fans up are looking forward to the tournament.

It's all about the money. The authorities just don't care about the fans.

(Original post by cyfer)
Yeah I would advise caution if you are from a coloured background. However don't make it seem generic. Every country has its scum. Poland/Ukraine just have a bit more, which happen to be slightly more violent.

I agree (the term coloured isn't very PC btw), though in a massive tournament such as Euro 2012 you should feel safe as long as you aren't being stupid. Poland and Ukraine aren't fit to host a large European football tournament. It's obvious that a region that has bad rep and high rates in racist violence shouldn't host such a tournament. There are obviously going to be a lot of minorities and foreigners attending who will stand out like a sore thumb amongst the locals.

[doggyfizzel]

(Original post by gapyearstudent)
i know nothing about football and the processes but how did they get to host it??

is there a vote or does someone just pick the countries out of a hat?

They pretty much pick based on whoever gives them the biggest suitcase full of cash.

[EssexDan86]

When I was in Krakow 2 months ago, it actually seemed fairly diverse - there were quite a few Chinese, Turks etc, and plenty of foreign tourists. I met a black English guy on a night out who lived there, and he seemed to be absolutely loving it - he spoke fluent Polish and knew locals, so I don't think it's fair to say all Poles are racist. There is defo a big problem though - especially in the grimmer industrial cities and towns like Lodz.

I think Ukraine will undoubtedly be a lot worse than Poland - its a poorer country with historically a lot less exposure to the rest of Europe. Unfortunately, thats where England are playing their games, could be risky. I certainly wouldn't want to be black/Asian over there. Eastern Europe in general is a bit scary, but I think this sort of thing will be clamped down on and more locals will want to create a good impression of their countries. We took a train to Belgrade from Budapest and that night Red Star were playing Partizan in a local derby... the amount of scary meatheads in shellsuits hanging around was frghtening... though we didn't actually experience any trouble (despite one of my mates having an afro and one being Jewish).

What I thought was the worst thing was seeing Poles and Ukrainians praising Hitler. My grandad was Polish and came over here during the war - considering what the Nazis did when they invaded Poland and Ukraine it's absolutely ****ing ridiculous that any citizen of those countries would admire Hitler. Absolute morons.

[EssexDan86]

(Original post by doggyfizzel)
They pretty much pick based on whoever gives them the biggest suitcase full of cash.

Hence why Russia and Qatar are hosting Word Cups!

[jblackmoustache]

(Original post by EssexDan86)
When I was in Krakow 2 months ago, it actually seemed fairly diverse - there were quite a few Chinese, Turks etc, and plenty of foreign tourists. I met a black English guy on a night out who lived there, and he seemed to be absolutely loving it - he spoke fluent Polish and knew locals, so I don't think it's fair to say all Poles are racist. There is defo a big problem though - especially in the grimmer industrial cities and towns like Lodz.

It's sort of like the UK. In cosmopolitan cities such as Leeds, Manchester, London and Bristol you're much less likely to encounter racism.

It's in grim post-industry towns and rural villages where the ignorance and racism thrives. Some of the simple reasons being that there either aren't a lot of minorities living there or that minorities haven't been living there for very long (compared to places such as London)

[Tin]

I can understand UEFA's choice in selecting Poland & Ukraine..

They obviously want to show the Polish & Ukranians what world is like outside of their dingy, bleak, ****ty country. By enlightening them to the rest of the world maybe they can Educate their people and have them compete economically with the rest of the world.

Imagine if UEFA didn't choose them, Poland & Ukraine would be the **** hole it is for 1000 years.

Besides, in the Panaroma clip - the polish fan said the Clubs were built and started by Jews. JEWS and Immigrants help economies prosper. FACT

Ukraine & poland thus far = **** hole isolationists.

[adriang458]

Haha Sol you know f**kall about Poland. It is much safer than in London. Of course crime happens everywhere but look at the statistics. Hooligans are a minority just like in every country. This happened in England and is still happening on a smaller scale. Its just BBC looking for negatives because they are jealous that Poland have the euros.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[jblackmoustache]

(Original post by adriang458)
Haha Sol you know f**kall about Poland. It is much safer than in London. Of course crime happens everywhere but look at the statistics. Hooligans are a minority just like in every country. This happened in England and is still happening on a smaller scale. Its just BBC looking for negatives because they are jealous that Poland have the euros.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Poland maybe is being tarred with the Ukraine brush? It was an incredibly bad decision to have a tournament with a country that just isn't ready and hasn't developed and is behind the rest of Europe (Ukraine). Saying that Poland still has it's problems that need addressing, though i'd probably feel safer travelling around Poland.

[adriang458]

Yes that is true. I was always against Poland co hosting with Ukraine. Poland have been lending money to the Ukraine and how is that fair. Over 3/4 of the teams travelling to euro 2012 have camps in Poland. Thats saying something. I think Poland should have co hosted with Slovakia and if it were possible: Hungary.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[EssexDan86]

I agree that Ukraine is far worse than Poland, and is dragging the reputation of the former country down. The documentary highlighted some serious issues in Poland, but they're nothing compared to the Ukraine's, and overall Poland is a lot more economically developed. Ukraine is a country where the former Prime Minister is currently in prison because her rival is now in power and he fabricated charges against her - it's very corrupt and has no hope of ever joining the EU.

The anti-semitism in Poland was bad, but I've seen equally bad racism in Dutch, Spanish and Italian football - all those countries have their bands of 'Ultras', and you could quite easily make a shocking documentary in any of them.

Ukraine, however, was on a different scale!

[cyfer]

(Original post by Casshern1456)
your country is quite messes up mate.

Yep

On a side note: just to clarify on why people should think Poland should co-host it with another similar nation and not Ukraine:
Poland's economy has been developing incredibly over the past few years, the currency has almost doubled during my lifetime (from 8zl/pound when I was ~8 to now 5.5zl/pound 8 years later) and it is only developing more as huge gas reserves have been found in Poland.

On the other hand, having been to Ukraine it is not a pretty sight. The roads are very badly done (impossible to drive over 30mph or it would break the suspension) and water is not available at certain times of the day since it costs too much. Bear in mind this is in one of the wealthiest cities in Ukraine (Lvov) - perhaps because it used to be Polish? :P

Just saying, Ukraine is not fit to host Euro 2012. They are not fit economically and they are completely denying that fans exhibit racism. At least in panorama it was clear that Poland was sending out fully armoured police men to combat the rioters. Poland is now even considering having a military presence during Euro 2012 just in case.

[cyfer]

Guys just to point out many poles are NOT TRYING TO BE ANTI SEMITIC.

In England we call people chavs, but that's actually a racist term (originates from the Romanian word for boy - i.e. calling people gypsies).

In Poland when you call someone a Jew you mean it in the same ideas as 'chav'. Sure it's a racist word but you just mean it as a simple insult.


>If Poland is getting such a huge backlash for calling people Jews, the word 'chav' should also be illegal in Britain.

>Although I do agree shouting 'death to Jews' is purposely offensive, something like 'you jew!' isn't supposed to be.