EURO 2021

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association co-organized the high-profile ‘Poland for All’ event together with the Polish Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, the City of Warsaw and the Polish Association of Former Players. It took place at the Warsaw Agrykola stadium on 14 October. The event formed a part of the Football Against Racism in Europe Action Weeks. One of the event’s attractions was a match involving players of Warsaw’s multicultural Ethnoleague and Polish football stars, including legends such as the former internationals Dariusz Dziekanowski, Radoslaw Majdan and Roman […]

During the biggest open-air free music festival in Europe, Pol’and’Rock (4-6 August), also known as Polish Woodstock, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association organized a football tournament promoting the message of ‘Let’s Kick Racism out of the Stadiums’, involving teenage players who are refugees from Ukraine. Together with the other participants, they manifested their protest against the war. On another festival day a meeting was held with the rock band Strachy na Lachy (Empty Threats) at the information stand of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. For many years, this group has been involved […]

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, which runs the campaign ‘Let’s Kick Racism out of Stadiums’, held an online debate on fighting antisemitism and bigotry at stadiums in Poland and Europe. Antisemitism continues to be a serious issue, both inside and outside football stadiums, in Poland and worldwide. However, more often than not it is also glossed over by football associations and the media. Participants in the debate presented the results of the international educational project ‘Changing the Chants’, conducted in cooperation with Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and two football clubs: […]

he ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has announced the release of the historic album ‘One Race – Human Race. Music Against Racism: Part 2’, for the first time on vinyl. The compilation record was initiated by the late Marcin Kornak, a human rights activist, poet and the founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. Marcin’s friends emphasize that ‘the new release of the album is dedicated to his memory’. The record was previously released in 1998 on CD and cassette by the independent label QQRYQ Productions as the second part of the ‘Music Against Racism’ […]

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 NEVER AGAIN Association has released a special vinyl record to commemorate Marcin Kornak, the late founder and chairman of NEVER AGAIN, one of the stalwarts of the Polish anti-racism movement. 20 March marks the fifth anniversary of his passing and 21 March is the UN International Day Against Racism. Marcin Kornak (1968-2014) launched the high-profile campaigns ‘Music Against Racism’ and ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Stadiums’. As the editor-in-chief of the NEVER AGAIN journal, he initiated the ground-breaking register of hate crimes in Poland known as the ‘Brown Book’. […]

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution in which it calls the national sports federations and football clubs to counter the scourge of racism, neo-fascism and xenophobia in stadiums and in the world of sport by condemning and punishing those responsible and by promoting, in cooperation with schools and civil society organizations, positive educational activities aimed at young sport fans. In addition, the European Parliament ‘supports and praises social groups and civil society organizations fighting against fascism, racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance and calls for their protection’. The […]

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 […]

The National Boxing Gala, announced as the biggest boxing event in Polish history, is to take place at Warsaw’s National Stadium on May 25th. Minister Anna Maria Anders – daughter of the legendary World War II general – who is now the Prime Minister’s plenipotentiary for international dialogue has extended her patronage over the event. Curiously, the gala features Artur Binkowski, a Polish-Canadian neo-Nazi. The bouts are to be accompanied by music performances by pop stars including the famous Polish rapper Liroy who is also a Member of Parliament. The […]

A new book on Jews, football and antisemitism in Poland has been launched at an international conference organized by the Anne Frank House at Amsterdam Arena, the stadium of Ajax Amsterdam. The book was written by Dr Maciej Kozlowski, a distinguished historian and diplomat, and published by the Warsaw-based ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. Using the example of Cracovia, Poland’s oldest football club, it discusses the multicultural history of Polish football as well as contemporary issues of antisemitism and racism. The book is published in Polish with an English summary and is […]