| Before the tournament even kicked-off, the much-awaited Euro 2012 football competition has been plagued by racist incidents against some players |
| By Randa El Tahawy |
| It seems many football are turning sour lately, although not even closely as disastrous as the massacre our game in Port Said saw, the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) European Football Champion 2012 (Euro 2012) was off to a rocky, racist start. Only less than a week into the championship and racist chanting has plagued two games already, the Russia - Czech Republic game, played on the first night of the championship on June 8, and the Spain - Italy game on June 10. The alleged racial abuse was directed at Italy forward player Mario Balotelli and Czech Republic defender Theodor Gebre Selassie. News agencies reported that several Spanish supporters made monkey chants at Balotelli, who was born in Italy to Ghanaian parents, during the Spain-Italy match on Sunday Gdansk, Poland. The admission by a Spanish fans' group and the testimony by photographers present at the game were sent to UEFA by an anti-racism network. Similarly, Czech Republic defender Theodor Gebre Selassie told reporters he "noticed" racist chants directed at him in his side's opening Group A game with Russia in Wroclaw, Poland. "It was nothing extreme. I've experienced much worse," said the 25-year-old Czech-born player whose father is Ethiopian. Although neither Italy nor the Czech Republic made official complaints to the UEFA, the governing body of football in Europe, is to investigate the alleged racist chanting. UEFA spokesman Rob Falkner was quoted by the Associated Press saying that further investigations are being conducted. "There are however, no disciplinary proceedings opened at this moment in time,” he said. The first racism incident at Euro 2012 happened two days before the opening match when monkey chants were targeted at Netherlands players during a public training session attended by 25,000 people last Wednesday in Krakow, Poland. "It is a real disgrace especially after getting back from Auschwitz [memorial concentration camp] that you are confronted with this," the captain of the Dutch team Mark Van Bommel told reporters. "We will take it up with UEFA and if it happens at a match we will talk to the referee and ask him to take us off the field." UEFA has subsequently declared there has been “isolated incidents of racist chanting” towards the Dutch players. UEFA rules make national federations responsible for their fans' behavior. A first offense would probably receive just a financial penalty, though further punishments could include deducting group points from teams and ultimately expelling them from Euro 2012. BBC Panorama had published a documentary last month titled Euro 2012: Stadiums of Hate, digging into the violent and racist incidents in the football histories of Poland and Ukraine, the two host nations. If you’re in the UK, watch the program here |
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