Europe soccer tournament overshadowed by racism claims, boycott

Pawel Ulatowski / Reuters

Netherlands soccer players attend a training session during the Euro 2012 at Wisla stadium in Krakow on Wednesday.

Europe's biggest soccer tournament is being overshadowed by a boycott by Western European officials over alleged human rights abuses, and by widespread concerns about racist taunts by home crowds in Ukraine and Poland, co-hosts of the event.

On Friday, just hours before the first game of the Euro 2012 tournament, European soccer governing body UEFA said in a statement that it had been informed of "isolated incidents of racist chanting" at the Netherlands team training session earlier in the week, further tarnishing the tournament.


Dutch players heard monkey chants from some people among a crowd of 25,000 at a training session at Wisla Krakow's stadium in Poland on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Netherlands team said.

ProSoccerTalk: The teams competing in the European Championships

The training session came only hours after the team -- for decades a reflection of the multicultural makeup of the nation -- had made solemn and emotional visits to the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps close to Krakow. 

"Some players did hear some monkey noises. That is why they moved to the other side of the pitch," the team spokeswoman said Friday.

A recent British television documentary, entitled "Stadiums of Hate," fueled concerns about fans' behavior at club matches. The program was shown in Poland earlier this week and the issue dominated questions at the first news conference of UEFA President Michel Platini at the tournament.

Platini promised that referees will stop matches if players suffer racist abuse. But he also warned players they would be shown a yellow card if they acted alone by walking off the field.

Euro 2012 scoreboard

"UEFA has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to discriminatory behavior and has given the power to referees to stop matches in case of any repeated racist behavior," UEFA said Friday. 

Concerns over 'rule of law' in Ukraine
The controversy over racism during the tournament came as the U.K. joined a growing boycott by Western European officials over the jailing of leading Ukrainian opposition figure Yulia Tymoshenko, which many believe was politically motivated.

The British Foreign Office confirmed to msnbc.com on Friday that there would be no official British presence at England's three group-stage games, making it the latest in a string of countries to say it would not attend the tournament in protest of Ukraine's treatment of Tymoshenko.

"No ministers will be attending group games at Euro 2012. We are keeping attendance at later stages of the tournament under review in the light of ministers' busy schedules ahead of the Olympics and widespread concerns about selective justice and the rule of law in Ukraine," a Foreign Office spokesman said.

Several other European nations have already announced they will not be sending official representatives to the games, including France and Germany, which both also cited Ukraine's treatment of Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year jail term on charges of abuse of office, condemned as politically motivated by the West. Allegations she was beaten by prison officials prompted top EU officials to announce a boycott of championship games hosted in Ukraine.

President Viktor Yanukovich still hopes the tournament will show the world how far Ukraine has come since it broke free of the Soviet Union in 1991 but the risk of it backfiring after a deluge of bad publicity is increasing. 

ProSoccerTalk: Racism, politics at Euro 2012; problems that won't go away

"Europe 2012 has provided a unique opportunity to present our country to the world and to achieve European standards, not only in organizing the tournament but in the life of our citizens," said Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnikov.

"If Ukraine does not cope well with the organization of the tournament and show it's a hospitable host, it will reflect on its reputation," said Kolesnikov, who was in charge of preparations for the finals.

The month-long tournament was starting in Poland on Friday and the final will be held in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on July 1. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

 

Discuss this post

Soccer fans are nutjobs. They always have been.

  • 5 votes
Reply#1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 12:02 PM EDT

yeah have you checked out any college football blog on ESPN? nutjobs doesn't even begin to describe them

  • 4 votes
#1.1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 12:18 PM EDT

Mark, they do take it awfully serious. They'll destroy a stadium whether they win or lose.

  • 4 votes
#1.2 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 2:26 PM EDT

My thoughts exactly. What were they expecting? A dignified opera crowd? These are all hard core soccer hooligans... err.. fans... we are talking about here, watching the highest profile games. We will be lucky if only a few people get killed.

  • 4 votes
#1.3 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:11 PM EDT
Reply

yeah have you checked out any college football blog on ESPN? nutjobs doesn't even begin to describe them

  • 1 vote
Reply#2 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 12:17 PM EDT

You stay classy Eastern Europe

  • 6 votes
Reply#3 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 12:30 PM EDT

As someone who has lived or worked in different E European countries ,I can say racism aganst.Black,Gyspies Jews,Asians and others that are not "white" is rampant.It`s a huge disgrace.They should look in the mirror.. at least in this case ,and see who the real enemy is... themselves! The problem is not with non whites its with them.!! whether they are Polish.Ukrainian.Russian or Hungarian..

  • 6 votes
Reply#4 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 12:52 PM EDT

Ahhh! The Warsaw Pack, revisted.

  • 1 vote
#4.1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 1:14 PM EDT

So all the Western countries that were not behind the iron curtain are now "multicultural" (former white countries)? What about the other way around?

    #4.2 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 1:14 PM EDT

    Racism is also rampant in different W European countries and israel, not just confined to E European countries. Prejudice, contempt and bias against Black, Gypies, Asians and others that are not "white" is widespread.

    Britain is notorious for its "Paki" and Indian bashers. The French prejudice against black north africans had resulted in 2011 riot, also France kicked out Roma gypies.

    israelis also discriminate against the black immigrants with rallies to call their expulsion.http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2012/06/israel-and-its-black-immigrants

      #4.3 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 8:18 PM EDT

      I think a lot of Ukrainians could be easily persuaded to work in concentration camps again; they didn't exactly cover themselves with glory in WWII. The Poles are at least a little better than that (I visited Poland years ago and thought they were some of the best people I ever met).

        #4.4 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 8:21 PM EDT

        Henrich, all French don't prejudice against North Africans or others, but some do for sure. Also most North Africans are not blacks, they are sun-taned Arabs ( Morroco, Algeria, Tunisia) which I lelieve is considered a white race. There are Blacks whose ancestor where from central and west Africa as well, the ex French colonies. But I can assure you they are considered French by most, and they should be, for example their ancestors fought in the trenches of WW1 against Germany( many vietnamese, Laotians, etc..did too). of course there are always those who look at others and tag them as inferior African, inferior Arab, inferior Polish, inferior poor, etc.. just like in America.

        • 1 vote
        #4.5 - Sat Jun 9, 2012 1:46 AM EDT
        Reply

        So all other kinds of violence is ok at soccer tournaments, just don't say any racial slurs. Geesh.

        • 7 votes
        Reply#5 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 1:12 PM EDT

        lol - its funny cuz its true

        • 2 votes
        #5.1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:34 PM EDT
        Reply

        Hate to say it, but it seems Western Europe is crying racism, when it turns out they have a deeper political agenda.

        • 5 votes
        Reply#6 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 1:15 PM EDT

        Sounds like it from the article.

        • 4 votes
        #6.1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:28 PM EDT
        Reply

        See, western europe is politically correct and humanitarian.. they allowed all those africans to emigrate and now they are stuck with them..

        Western europe should follow how isreal approach the situation:

        -Do not admit any blacks

        -If they come somehow, treat them like second class creatures, probably worse than they treat palestinians

        -Preserve pure jewish sprit and values and identity at any cost

        -Do not give a squat what others say...

        -And, continue to talk bullsh*t, such as how democratic you are and equal rights etc..

        • 2 votes
        Reply#7 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 2:14 PM EDT

        There are plenty of Arabs in Israel, you bigoted @sshole. It's people like you that necessitate a Jewish state. If it wasn't for the wanton murder of 6 million Jews by likes of you, there would never have been the necessity to create Israel.

        • 8 votes
        #7.1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 2:24 PM EDT

        Don't feed the troll!

        • 1 vote
        #7.2 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 5:05 PM EDT

        lloyd 371 should be banned for personal attack.

        israel has no choice but allows some arabs to stay after israel stole their land but unabled to displace them (though 840,000 palestinians were displaced). These arabs are merely 2nd class citizens among the white israelis who are also prejudice against the black african immigrations.

          #7.3 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 8:27 PM EDT

          There are plenty of Arabs in Israel, you bigoted @sshole

          Exactly what I said, see last item:

          And, continue to talk bullsh*t, such as how democratic you are and equal rights etc..

          Do you actually believe Arabs living in isreal have rights? Dumbsh*t.. At least do not lie when you are wrong. Just shut the f*ck up.

            #7.4 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 8:28 PM EDT
            Reply

            The problem is always with Whites isn't it Bart Martin? LOL. Ukrainians don't give a rats a$$ what you think about them. And exactly how do you discern a monkey sound from a crowd of tens of thousands whooping and hollering? Sounds like a bunch of typical lib BS from a hyper sensitive lib country. Stay classy UEFA/Netherlands.

            • 4 votes
            Reply#8 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 2:49 PM EDT

            Anyone who says they are not prejudiced is a liar. We all have prejudices. It takes a real human being to be able to admit it and try to walk through it and strive to be open minded and tolerant....which takes work.

            • 4 votes
            Reply#9 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 2:50 PM EDT

            Typical libiot. "All the non-whites are good but all the White people are evil" Self-hating loser.

            • 6 votes
            Reply#10 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 2:53 PM EDT

            "All the non-whites are good but all the White people are evil"

            Do you want to refer to the post by number where those words were actually written?

            You don't put quote marks around you own words. Should we call you an IDIOT for doing that? I mean you certainly felt free to attack others.

            This is just proof there are rednecks and bigots practically everywhere. No surprise if you ever been to these parts of Europe. UEFA knew this beforehand. Maybe these people can form their own Tea Party?

            • 1 vote
            #10.1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 4:59 PM EDT

            Uh, Vox, I think he meant in life. All life doesn't revolve around this vine. And there you go pulling out all the names--rednecks, tea party(ers), bigots, etc and so forth.

              #10.2 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 6:46 PM EDT

              Vox is right, you find rednecks just about everywhere, but most of them won't be named Bubba. Teabaggies are just about everywhere too, whether they locally call themselves Hezbollah, National Front, or Likud.

              • 1 vote
              #10.3 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 8:26 PM EDT

              "Uh, Vox, I think he meant in life"

              Uh, what in the h-ll are you talking about? Insult us and then go and do something that utterly stupid? Was he incapable of copying and pasting? You people are nothing less than dangerous. I live in the Deep South. And I have seen the idea of white supremacy totally discredited for much of my life. Shocking that you can't see it yourselves. I will attack and abuse anyone supporting racism in any form. And there are more than a few on this board guilty of exactly that human failure.

                #10.4 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 10:02 PM EDT

                hope then you do not support the evolution movements, that is how these people get traction, yet social elites still compromise afraid to make a stand on "the faith" of Christ as they call it, like our current president trying to appeal to more people but never really standing up against the idea that as long as people believe they are apes they will cleverly figure out a way to do whatever perversion or murder or deceitful crime and justify it, even if it is organized racism on a specific gender, color, ethnicity. Only by Gods grace can we ever and have we even ever been able to cope this far. Without God this is the utter chaos you will have with no moral compass what would you expect? This is a bolder new kind of warfare but its old Satan trickery, Jesus is the Way and Gods grace that's it. Wise men seek Him, all justice and truth and morality is evidence of His design and creation if people have not had a personal encounter with the Lord yet, but all will be without excuse, the time is coming , and any day now is anyone's last day, you surely want to know your Maker and Creaotr and Savior who loves you deeply. Forgives and will teach people how to love when they really follow and become disciples. Blood of the Lamb is life beyond understanding, and peace, and eyes for the eternal plan.

                  #10.5 - Sat Jun 9, 2012 2:46 PM EDT
                  Reply

                  Well, I guess it's nice to know that dumb isn't reserved just for American bibletards...on the other hand, um, can I relocate to Planet Mongo now?

                  • 4 votes
                  Reply#11 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:17 PM EDT

                  Why is it that the poorer a white person is the more certain he/she is to be a raving racist?. In Europe you can practically rate how racist a country is just by their GDP. For example Spain having a smaller GDP than Germany is infinitely more uncivilized and racist....in general. The eastern europeans just recently coming out of the poverty and depredation of the soviet era are usually more racist than western europeans. I have travelled extensively in europe and that's been my observation.

                  • 4 votes
                  Reply#12 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 4:11 PM EDT

                  They all seem to have minorities they don't like. Can you honestly say it's any worse in one country over another?

                  • 1 vote
                  #12.1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 4:33 PM EDT

                  I would say it's more akin to some Americans' attitude toward Mexicans, or anyone south of the border. Take any argument (jobs, welfare etc.) that's made here against Mexicans and those are the same arguments and prejudices you see over there. And the poorer the country the more it's an outsider's fault for their situation.

                  • 1 vote
                  #12.2 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 5:13 PM EDT

                  You forgot to mention that the Western European countries that are protesting it, are barely white anymore. England, for one, is full of Muslims, black Africans, same with Italy, France. Norway is being called multicultural. Maybe their taunts (like someone said was miraculously heard in a huge crowd) may stem more from the mass immigrations and threat to any European culture and ethnicity that is left. Seems that all the West is suppose to welcome that with open arms, but if a non white country doesn't, it's considered understandable because the white man is taking away their country.

                    #12.3 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 6:52 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    I think that it is interesting how many white people here in America have a knee jerk reaction to defend those accused of racist taunts. It is interesting because you guys have absolutely no way of knowing what the hell is going on in these countries. All you read is that SOME white people in these countries are treating the minority players disrespectfully. As a black person, I am not surprised at all by the reaction of Americans in this regard. I am also mindful that I too have little knowledge of what is going on in these countries and that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle between the author of this piece and the knee jerk reactionaries in the USA.

                    For you history buffs, maybe you can shed some light on how minorities (ethnic) were treated after fighting for the Soviet Union in WWII. Many of them were rounded up and imprisoned after the war. Many of their villages were destroyed by the non ethnic USSR majority acting on orders of the state. Eastern Europe is no different than anywhere else. The majority routinely oppresses the minority. This is true in every corner of the globe. In Africa, majority tribes oppress minority tribes. Both tribes are black, but one tribe has a political advantage that they use to oppress the other tribes.

                    Americans of all races would probably be better served if we read and carefully analyzed what is being written, instead of allowing our lizard brains to take over and corral us into a position based on the race of the group whose behavior is being criticized.

                    CKB

                    • 1 vote
                    Reply#13 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 4:46 PM EDT

                    Like I mentioned before, an embarrassingly large number of Ukrainians were happy to join with the Nazis against the Soviet Union. That didn't go well after the war, and a lot of resentment is still there on both sides. Jews, Gypsies, and various Moslems were the traditional targets of the local haters. Now they have a chance to go after blacks every so often, and are very happy to do so.

                      #13.1 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 8:30 PM EDT

                      Not for nothing but the gypsies I've encountered in Europe and the US were not good people, thieves etc. They are not the glamorized things in stories. And Muslems hate Jews and also went along with the Nazis.

                      • 1 vote
                      #13.2 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 11:42 PM EDT

                      yes, anyone who turns from the grace of God and the reality of all of the submission to the Word is believing a lie and/or a false religion. I believe at some point intelligent people figure out the mantra of many and many beliefs and simply talk the talk strategizing around peoples beliefs to manipulate for personal selfish gain, for they lack faith in any reality of God and the evidence of creation and warnings written about in the prophecies, only Gods grace and mercy can save and there is a new gate and door to more than this current earth beyond what even eyes can see. Spirituality and transcendence, false ideologies confuse many , many people and they are all searching so they choose poorly and this allows the thieves and con artist to get a foot hold sounding and appearing spiritual and working false miracles even with eccentric appeal, but we cannot judge and no one shall kill , killing is contrary to the Word, and yet so many fall for it or are blinded in the dark. Armies end up being formed when rights are taken and criminals are the majority in a culture- or when natural resources and politics take over ahead of the peoples will to work for themselves. America's fabric of freedom is being torn string by string. There is nothing left to do but fight for truth and pray to our Lord and Savior for guidance and trust in the greater picture, if misguided compassion and liberalism manifests and God is thrown out of schools and the courts, for that day will be very close to anarchistic but with functioning order to a certain degree similar to the dark ages, mixed with modern technology and govt. control over healthcare and housing, the society as we know it will be much different. Sin is the culprit and people need to see Gods bigger plan now and allow the Lord to forgive their sins , the least will be first.

                      You are right their are certain tweaks people believe and alter in history, and it is not a good thing. For hate and division are cultivated more than the real Gods grace which is not total freedom for Law of Spirit and truth and it is not a religion or sub culture, it is simply the Way and the unfolding and unveiling of human destiny - truth has been distorted since the fall, Jesus is Lord God and Father =ONE to bring the Spirit which is how we are born again, Jesus is the Second Adam. All humans are the same, either we stay in sin and in the dark and hide or we are exposed by the light of heaven and covered by the blood of the Lamb. WE are co existent with good and evil and we have to choose on cover the other, and evil is simply the absence of good but it looks and feels and is appealed to "feelings' of existence.

                        #13.3 - Sat Jun 9, 2012 2:38 PM EDT
                        Reply

                        Still lots of poverty in Ukraine and the people have been locked up for years. I think the writer is correct. The poorer the country or the state the more racist they appear to be. People who are satisfied with their status rarely become racists. People who are not doing too well look for some excuse for their situation.

                        • 3 votes
                        Reply#14 - Fri Jun 8, 2012 7:12 PM EDT

                        wwwwwaaaaaaaaa,,,,,,,wwwwwwaaaaaaa,,,,,,,cry babys,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

                          Reply#15 - Sat Jun 9, 2012 12:52 PM EDT

                          //Dutch players heard monkey chants from some people among a crowd of 25,000 at a training session at Wisla Krakow's stadium in Poland on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Netherlands team said.//

                          yeah , well you can thank all those "evolution" and God delusion fools for that, saying that certain humans are inferior or less evolved or developed than others. When people embrace the real Gospel(Good news) of the Lord Father and our Creator and Savior and realize we all are the same exact DNA, we all came form the same first 2 humans, male and a female, and that sin caused death and no one is righteous but we are all brothers unto Christ through grace or we choose not to embrace God for a lie and many have been sowed as "weeds" by the enemy among the wheat crop of all that is good and the root that will burst up into eternity forever, amen. You humanist Hitler supremacy people will never know , liberals buy the lie of the humanist and they will never know, they will keep seeing micro evolution the same as macro and with all species and have this arrogance of mans wisdom and solely trust science and they will forget God and grace and all the things that give people rights and freedoms. WE need to acknowledge sin recognize the light of grace and the revelation of the One and Only and only then can we sow mercy , not justice, for no one is righteous but rather mercy and the true understanding of our fractured nature and then we can love one another like God Yahweh intended to have some peace even on earth that is fallen, but all knowing that God ultimately is good and has a plan beyond eyes and beyond the graves.

                          Yeah America keep buying into Dan Brown and the likes , and keep listening to these imposter science guys that we evolved from apes and expect more of this, and no change from barbaric human nature, people are clever and sinful and will justify just about any sin and even try to magnify it as something good.

                            Reply#16 - Sat Jun 9, 2012 2:15 PM EDT

                            This is really ridiculous.This is an insignificant game, in the end the fans were injured...Sad reminder of the fans... --

                            • 1 vote
                            Reply#17 - Thu Jun 14, 2012 3:30 AM EDT
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