EURO 2021

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association published the ‘Brown Book’ – documentation of racist, xenophobic and homophobic crimes and acts of discrimination in Poland in the years 2020-2023. It also covers discriminatory behaviour at stadiums and racist incidents involving football hooligans. The long-time author of the ‘Brown Book’ was the late Marcin Kornak (1968-2014), founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, social justice activist and poet. He was the mind behind social campaigns promoting respect and diversity, among them he […]

This summer, the biggest open-air free festival in Europe hosted a unique edition of the ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out Of Stadiums’ tournament, organized by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. At the Pol’and’Rock Festival (also known as Polish Woodstock), the players symbolically represented countries from all over the world. In the final play-off, Poland played against Iran, while the fair play award went to Croatia. A match was also played between the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association’s team together with artists involved in the ‘Music Against Racism’ campaign on one side and the team […]

Bonuses for winning the title of a champion for Euro-2012 should be maintained at the same level as for the World Cup 2010 and Euro-2008, this is 250.000 EUR for each player – stated Oliver Bierhoof, chairman of the German Football Association. 250.000 EUR will get every player of the German team. The amount of the bonus is negotiated, but Bierhoff does not think that the amount will be higher than a year and three years ago. Funds provided by the UEFA for the European Championship for all teams is […]

Members of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association held meetings with authorities and civil society leaders in several cities across the Russian Federation between 26-30 September 2011. They discussed future cooperation and exchange of experiences in the struggle against racism and xenophobia in the lead up to the 2018 World Cup to be held in Russia. Among others, they visited Kazan – the home of FC Rubin and a 2018 World Cup host city – where they were received by the leaders of the Parliamentary Civic Chamber of the Republic of Tatarstan […]

Not everyone liked the UEFA’s decision of leaving the organization of the European football championships in 2012 for Poland and Ukraine. The Germans had the most grudges, but this shouldn’t came as a surprise to anybody as it’s widely known that our western neighbors wanted to take over the event most. According to the daily “Die Welt”, UEFA president Michel Platini gave Poland and Ukraine “a yellow card and a warning” but he is endangered himself by “a red card” and the European Championships are endangered by a fiasco.

After a break in live-audience football games caused by the epidemic, racist slogans and banners have returned to stadiums. The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association noted a surge in activity of those who use football to manifest their endorsement of Janusz Walus, a Polish-born far-right activist serving a life sentence for a racist murder in the Republic of South Africa. During a top flight match between teams Lechia Gdansk and Legia Warszawa (15 July), hooligans from Gdansk again displayed a banner with Walus’s name and picture and the slogan ‘Nothing will break […]

The biggest open-air free music festival in Europe, Pol’and’Rock, also known as Polish Woodstock, took place from 1 to 4 August 2019. The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association organized a series of anti-racism activities accompanying the festival. The festival line up included internationally known performers who oppose racism and discrimination such as Gogol Bordello, Skunk Anansie, Ziggy Marley, and Prophets of Rage. The last band includes former members of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill. The festival stand of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association was the venue of a […]

Co-founder of the anti-fascist ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association Rafal Pankowski was awarded the prestigious annual Human Rights Distinction by Poland’s Ombudsman Dr Adam Bodnar in a ceremony held in Warsaw’s Old Town on 25 September. The celebratory speech was delivered by Marian Turski, a Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz survivor who is Chairman of the Council for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Deputy Chairman of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute as well as a member of the International Auschwitz Council. – ‘I am honoured and grateful […]

‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association members and friends were in attendance at the European Medal of Tolerance ceremony held in London on 9 March. The Medal was handed to international football legend Samuel Eto’o and to the FARE network of which ‘NEVER AGAIN’ is a founding member. The distinction is awarded by the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ECTR), established in 2008 by former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor. Speeches in honour of the award recipients were made by Vaira Vike-Freiberga, former President of Latvia […]

An anti-discrimination football exhibition prepared by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has been opened in the main hall of the Polish Parliament on 19 February 2014. The opening ceremony was hosted by Deputy Speaker Wanda Nowicka, Poland’s leading campaigner against discrimination and for women’s rights. The exhibition was brought to the Parliament on the initiative of Robert Biedron MP, the founder of Campaign Against Homophobia and a longtime ally of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. Since autumn 2013, Robert Biedron is the General Rapporteur on LGBT rights in the Parliamentary Assembly of […]