EURO 2021

Warsaw The National Stadium in Warsaw which has a capacity of 60 thousand seats will be built in the place where at present is the 10th Anniversary Stadium, or next to Washington roundabout in Prague-South. According to current conception the National Stadium is expected to be the main element of a sports-recreational centre (“the National Sport Centre”) which will including among others: a pool with Olympic parameters, a sports-auditorium hall on 15 thousand seats, as well as commercial part (shop centres, gastronomic centres). The Central Sports Centre in Warsaw is […]

Euro 2012 is a great sports event with a lot of football fans from across Europe. They watch matches, have fun, drink, celebrate or… they want to feel happier. They drive around the country, they may seek friends, and possibly prostitutes. Will all that is associated with it become stronger? the activities of criminal groups, conflicts between them, trafficking in women, forcing them to provide sexual services? “The demand may increase” admits Irena Dawid-Olczyk from the Foundation Against Trafficking in Women of La Strada. However in Germany, before the world […]

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 […]

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 […]

Warsaw’s inhabitants stood in solidarity with their African neighbours who were targeted by racists. The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, together with Projekt: Polska, organized a civic action to show solidarity and paint over large racist graffiti that appeared by the entrances of the African restaurant La Mama and a nearby African shop. Both sites are located in the Muranow district, known as the area of the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto during the Nazi occupation, and they are near the Polonia Warsaw football ground. The La Mama restaurant is a key meeting point […]

Euro 2012 draws nearer and nearer and the atmosphere around the match between Poland and Russia is getting more and more nervous. There is more and more talk about Russian fans who announce “maximum of activity” during the tournament; on the other hand, publications in Russian newspapers have been warning of “big brawls”. Are Polish security forces ready to ensure a peaceful course of the tournament? I opinion of Polish Minister of the Interior Jacek Cichocki, they are “prepared for the worst.” Russian national team, crowds of fans and… Smolensk […]

Star striker Robert Lewandowski on Friday criticised Poland coach Franciszek Smuda’s decision to axe midfielder Slawomir Peszko from the Euro 2012 co-hosts’ squad after a drink-fuelled dispute with a taxi driver. “Slawomir was fined by his club, and it should have stopped there,” Lewandowski, who has questioned Smuda’s tactical choices in the past, said in an interview with the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. “It makes no sense to have axed him from our team,” he added. Like Lewandowski, who is on course to win a second consecutive Bundesliga title with Borussia […]

The project of the stadium was executed by the Rhode-Kellermann-Wawrowsky company from Dusseldorf, which has also built the famous stadium in Gelsenkirchen and in Hanover. In April 2008, works on the preparation of the ground for the construction of the stadium began and a few months later ground works were started. The official commencement of construction of the stadium was in May 2009. The works were to be finished at the end of 2010, but this deadline was not met due to various reasons. On 9 June 2011 PGE Arena […]

In four Polish host cities three thousand volunteers will help guests of the EURO 2012. The recruitment officially began on Wednesday. The “Volunteer Work of Host Cities” programme is independent of the similar one organized by the UEFA and is directed mainly to fans and tourists, not only to team players of the EURO 2012. In Warsaw there will be a group of thousands of volunteers, in Wroclaw – 650 people, and, in Gdansk and Poznan – 600 people per each city. In order to become a volunteer, you need […]

With the Polish venues on track in their preparations for co-hosting Euro 2012, the lingering concern for the country’s football fans is whether they will have a national team capable of putting up a respectable performance. Coach Franciszek Smuda has seen his side fall as far as 73rd in FIFA’s admittedly farcical ranking system, with the dearth of playing talent a regular topic for the country’s footballing media. Many wonder what happened to the squad that won the European Under-18 Championship in Finland in 2001. That team included Tomasz Kuszczak, […]