EURO 2021

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: […]

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 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 […]

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association brought together creme de la creme of Polish sports journalists as well as Members of Parliament, former sports champions and representatives of key institutions to participate in an awards ceremony and an informed discussion on sports and discrimination on the eve of the UN Anti-Racism Day. The ‘Stop racism in sports’ competition for professional print, radio and television journalists covering issues of racism and discrimination was held under the auspices of Elzbieta Radziszewska MP, Deputy Speaker of the Polish Parliament (Sejm) and former Minister of Equality. […]

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 […]

On 18 August 2011, at the invitation of the Polish Parliament’s National and Ethnic Minorities Committee, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association presented its activities against racism and xenophobia in football stadiums in the lead up to EURO 2012. – ‘Polish football is often quite multi-cultural, which is emblematic of broader demographic changes across Europe, but the situation in many stadiums still gives reasons for concern’ – said Dr Rafal Pankowski, the coordinator of the East Europe Monitoring Centre set up by ‘NEVER AGAIN’ in cooperation with the FARE Network and UEFA. […]

Silesian Stadium in Chorzow is the largest existing sports stadium in Poland. From 1993 it functions as the national stadium for Polish football representation. The stadium is a part of Regional Centre of Culture and Sport in Chorzow, located near the border of Chorzow and Katowice. Present capacity of stadium is over 47 thousand seats, and planned modernization is expected to led to increase this number to about 60 thousand seats. The conversion should be finished around 2010. Additionally, stadium stand are expected to be roofed over. The cost of […]

Warsaw – Poland’s National Stadium, which is to host the opening match of the Euro 2012 football championship, was unlikely to be ready by the June 30 deadline amid a series of construction mistakes, local media reported Wednesday. The stairs leading up to the stadium in Warsaw were faulty as inspectors said they would not withstand the weight of thousands of football fans. ‘I’m aware there are tensions at the construction site, especially because of the stairs,’ said Sports Minister Adam Giersz. ‘They are faulty, which means the deadline might […]

By the match Lech-Braga UEFA “gave Poles’ noses a flick”. “UEFA does not want to accept Polish improvisation in the context of the Euro 2012 – admits Jacek Masiota, a lawyer representing Lech. More and more millions of zloties is spent on the Lech stadium and works have not been finished yet The end of the line Since October last year, UEFA checks irregularities at the Stadion Miejski (City Stadium) in Poznan. The facility was officially opened with the Sting concert and later on three matches of the European League […]

On April 18, 2007, the head of UEFA, Michel Platini mentioned Poland and Ukraine as the hosts of the European Championships in football to be held in 2012. Below we present the current status of works concerning major facilities being prepared for Euro 2012. We mean stadiums. Three years ago euphoria broke out in Poland when Michel Platini took out from an envelope a card with the words “Poland and Ukraine.” The joy in Poland, resulting from granting such a prestigious event did quickly turned into fear. Questions “whether Poland […]