Euro 2012

How to fight racism in sport?

A practical guide for football clubs published in Poland

News from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association

26.02.2010

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has released a toolkit entitled How to fight racism? It contains practical guidelines and advice concerning the elimination of racist and xenophobic behaviour from stadiums and pitches. The toolkit is tailor-made for Polish football clubs.
The manual has been prepared with the support of UEFA and the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network. The Council of Europe, the Polish Football Association and the Polish Former Football Players’ Association have also expressed their support for the project.

-’We have prepared the toolkit in a CD format, we have drawn from the best European experiences, and adapted them for use by Polish clubs. It is supposed to be a powerful instrument in the combat against discrimination, racism and prejudice. We propose good solutions and show how to promote multiculturalism in sport and in the stadiums’ – explains Jacek Purski, a representative of the ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of the Stadiums’ campaign.

The toolkit ‘How to fight racism?’ contains explanations of what is racism in sport, what are its most common manifestations as well as information on how to face it successfully. It presents advices and tips, which have already proved to be successful in many Western European and Polish football clubs.

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Preparations for the construction of the stadium’s roof are underway: the first of 72 huge elements has arrived from Italy.

On Thursday the first of 72 elements of the inner ring truss arrived from Italy, one of the main elements of the roof. The element is over 12.5 meters long and weighs 48 tons.

First attempts at laying out the concrete for the floor construction on level +1 have begun, over the main entrance to the stadium. Work on the foundations under the columns of the steel roof is being done under a heated tent.

48 out of 72 steel support pillars for the roof’s construction have also arrived. Each element weighs 3.5 tons. The steel construction’s assembly will begin in March.

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Martin Kallen, the UEFA Director responsible for the organization of the Euro 2012 finals, strolled through the Palace of Culture and Science – where the draw for European Football Championship qualifying groups was held – with pride.

He ensured that the draw, a test for Poland as co-host of the championships, was enjoyed by all participants.

- The draw was very successful – it was a great start of the tournament. All the guests felt a little Polish spirit. From what I heard, everyone was happy and satisfied. Now they are going home and will battle it out on football pitches for the chance to return to Poland with their teams in 2012,” said Kallen.

- It’s hard for me to judge the draw’s results. Traditionally, the A team travels far distances. And it will be the same this time. The German team will travel to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. I for one was anxious about Switzerland – he added.

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мебель в болгарииSunday’s draw for the Euro 2012 Championships qualifying competition was finished.

Each team in the qualifying groups will play one another on a home and away basis, with matches taking place up to October 2011.

The nine group winners and the best runner-up qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up will contest two-legged play-offs to decide who gets the four remaining places.

Euro 2012 qualifying draw:

Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan
Group B: Russia, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra
Group C: Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands
Group D: France, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg
Group E: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino
Group F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta
Group G: England, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Montenegro
Group H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland
Group I: Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, Liechtenstein

Preparations for the Euro 2012 football tournament in Poland and Ukraine are well on track, the ruling body UEFA said on Friday with nine days left until the qualifying group draw.

The February 7 draw in Warsaw is the first big event around the tournament which created various problems in the early stages after the two Eastern European nations were elected hosts in 2007.

‘Preparations for Euro 2012 are going well,’ UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told the body’s website after an executive board meeting on Thursday in Malta.

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Platini has made it clear that UEFA’s decision to award Euro 2012 to Poland and Ukraine was far from a safe bet…

The focus of the football world is at the African Nations Cup at the moment and will be shifted to the 2010 World Cup come June, but UEFA president Michel Platini is already thinking about Euro 2012.

The tournament will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, and both nations have been criticised more than once for the slow progress in infrastructure improvements and stadium construction projects.

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