Euro 2012: The Official EURO 2012 Thread
Euro 2012: The Official EURO 2012 Thread
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Rutashubanyuma
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 24, 2010
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[h=1]England will expect to ease their way into Euro 2012 knockout stage[/h] France, unbeaten in 17 games, will pose the biggest threat but Fabio Capello's side will hope to beat Ukraine and Sweden
Fabio Capello will be pleased with England's draw – they face Ukraine, Sweden and France – for Euro 2012. Photograph: Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto/Allstar
The days are gone when hopes for England soared at international tournaments but Euro 2012 offers at least a measure of reassurance for Fabio Capello and his squad in the group phase. France, the opponents in England's opening game, certainly pose a threat, but co-hosts Ukraine are relatively untried of late given the absence of competitive football.
If all goes to form, England could ease their way into the knockout stage and will anticipate stepping closer to that phase with a victory over Sweden at least. France appear to be the most intriguing of rivals. They are on a run of 17 matches undefeated. That steadiness is remarkable after the outcry over their unhappy experience at the 2010 World Cup.
They had come last in their group in South Africa and, with a single point, had one of the worst records in the tournament. The removal of Raymond Domenech as manager was assured but the damage went further than that. Laurent Blanc filled the vacancy and punished the members of the World Cup squad for their allegedly unprofessional behaviour by dropping all of them for the next match.
The game in question was just a friendly that was lost to Norway but a message had been delivered. In addition to that rebuke, Blanc aimed for revival by, in particular, recalling some players of North African descent such as Samir Nasri, now of Manchester City, as well as Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa, who had joined Newcastle United initially on loan in August 2010.
Blanc displayed a measure of boldness in his actions but also had to show fortitude after seeing his men slide to a 1-0 defeat against Belarus in Paris. Nasri had been perceived as unreliable in the past but the manager was disposed to put some faith in a player once thought of as a potentially disruptive influence. No one could have pictured him in those terms when he converted the penalty against Bosnia and Herzegovina that secured the berth at the finals.
It would seem that Blanc may have derived a long-term benefit from the tumult he inherited. There was a mandate for change and he had no cause to bow to reputation. In a smaller way, there is an echo of Capello's reaction to the tribulations of the World Cup. He, too, treated the woe as a reason to change. Both countries will expect to stride forward at the finals.
All the same, the hopes of Sweden and Ukraine will not have sunk too much. Ukraine, for instance, should not suffer from an excess of expectation by their countrymen since they are placed 55th in Fifa's world rankings. Only their co-hosts Poland, at 66th in the world, are of lower standing at the tournament.
The unknown element, as in the case of Poland, lies in the feats that can be achieved by well supported sides at home for one potentially life-changing summer. That interpretation has still to be offset by the reality that they lack daunting footballers.
The Poland manager, Andrzej Szarmach, was part of the memorable squad of the 1970s, along with Wlodzimierz Lubanski, Kazimierz Deyna and Grzegorz Lato. Lato, now president of the Polish football federation, is embroiled in accusations of financial impropriety over the purchase of land for its new headquarters.
All in all, it will take immense amounts of adrenalin-generated conviction to hoist Poland or Ukraine to greatness.
Ukraine have never come through the qualifiers for a European Championship. They did get to quarter-finals of World Cup in 2006, where they were eliminated by Italy, the winners of that tournament.
Oleg Blokhin is now in his second stint as manager, having taken up the post again in April. The squad are almost entirely drawn from Ukrainian clubs but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, at least, is on the books of Bayern Munich.
England have suffered for far too long to suppose that an easy road lies before them. Even so, the draw has extended an invitation to Capello's team. The opportunity to make an impact on Euro 2012 is in their own hands.
-
- Kevin McCarra
- guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 December 2011 19.23 GMT
- Article history
- Kevin McCarra
The days are gone when hopes for England soared at international tournaments but Euro 2012 offers at least a measure of reassurance for Fabio Capello and his squad in the group phase. France, the opponents in England's opening game, certainly pose a threat, but co-hosts Ukraine are relatively untried of late given the absence of competitive football.
If all goes to form, England could ease their way into the knockout stage and will anticipate stepping closer to that phase with a victory over Sweden at least. France appear to be the most intriguing of rivals. They are on a run of 17 matches undefeated. That steadiness is remarkable after the outcry over their unhappy experience at the 2010 World Cup.
They had come last in their group in South Africa and, with a single point, had one of the worst records in the tournament. The removal of Raymond Domenech as manager was assured but the damage went further than that. Laurent Blanc filled the vacancy and punished the members of the World Cup squad for their allegedly unprofessional behaviour by dropping all of them for the next match.
The game in question was just a friendly that was lost to Norway but a message had been delivered. In addition to that rebuke, Blanc aimed for revival by, in particular, recalling some players of North African descent such as Samir Nasri, now of Manchester City, as well as Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa, who had joined Newcastle United initially on loan in August 2010.
Blanc displayed a measure of boldness in his actions but also had to show fortitude after seeing his men slide to a 1-0 defeat against Belarus in Paris. Nasri had been perceived as unreliable in the past but the manager was disposed to put some faith in a player once thought of as a potentially disruptive influence. No one could have pictured him in those terms when he converted the penalty against Bosnia and Herzegovina that secured the berth at the finals.
It would seem that Blanc may have derived a long-term benefit from the tumult he inherited. There was a mandate for change and he had no cause to bow to reputation. In a smaller way, there is an echo of Capello's reaction to the tribulations of the World Cup. He, too, treated the woe as a reason to change. Both countries will expect to stride forward at the finals.
All the same, the hopes of Sweden and Ukraine will not have sunk too much. Ukraine, for instance, should not suffer from an excess of expectation by their countrymen since they are placed 55th in Fifa's world rankings. Only their co-hosts Poland, at 66th in the world, are of lower standing at the tournament.
The unknown element, as in the case of Poland, lies in the feats that can be achieved by well supported sides at home for one potentially life-changing summer. That interpretation has still to be offset by the reality that they lack daunting footballers.
The Poland manager, Andrzej Szarmach, was part of the memorable squad of the 1970s, along with Wlodzimierz Lubanski, Kazimierz Deyna and Grzegorz Lato. Lato, now president of the Polish football federation, is embroiled in accusations of financial impropriety over the purchase of land for its new headquarters.
All in all, it will take immense amounts of adrenalin-generated conviction to hoist Poland or Ukraine to greatness.
Ukraine have never come through the qualifiers for a European Championship. They did get to quarter-finals of World Cup in 2006, where they were eliminated by Italy, the winners of that tournament.
Oleg Blokhin is now in his second stint as manager, having taken up the post again in April. The squad are almost entirely drawn from Ukrainian clubs but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, at least, is on the books of Bayern Munich.
England have suffered for far too long to suppose that an easy road lies before them. Even so, the draw has extended an invitation to Capello's team. The opportunity to make an impact on Euro 2012 is in their own hands.
Rutashubanyuma
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 24, 2010
- 219,504
- 911,249
[h=1]England will expect to ease their way into Euro 2012 knockout stage[/h] France, unbeaten in 17 games, will pose the biggest threat but Fabio Capello's side will hope to beat Ukraine and Sweden
Fabio Capello will be pleased with England's draw they face Ukraine, Sweden and France for Euro 2012. Photograph: Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto/Allstar
The days are gone when hopes for England soared at international tournaments but Euro 2012 offers at least a measure of reassurance for Fabio Capello and his squad in the group phase. France, the opponents in England's opening game, certainly pose a threat, but co-hosts Ukraine are relatively untried of late given the absence of competitive football.
If all goes to form, England could ease their way into the knockout stage and will anticipate stepping closer to that phase with a victory over Sweden at least. France appear to be the most intriguing of rivals. They are on a run of 17 matches undefeated. That steadiness is remarkable after the outcry over their unhappy experience at the 2010 World Cup.
They had come last in their group in South Africa and, with a single point, had one of the worst records in the tournament. The removal of Raymond Domenech as manager was assured but the damage went further than that. Laurent Blanc filled the vacancy and punished the members of the World Cup squad for their allegedly unprofessional behaviour by dropping all of them for the next match.
The game in question was just a friendly that was lost to Norway but a message had been delivered. In addition to that rebuke, Blanc aimed for revival by, in particular, recalling some players of North African descent such as Samir Nasri, now of Manchester City, as well as Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa, who had joined Newcastle United initially on loan in August 2010.
Blanc displayed a measure of boldness in his actions but also had to show fortitude after seeing his men slide to a 1-0 defeat against Belarus in Paris. Nasri had been perceived as unreliable in the past but the manager was disposed to put some faith in a player once thought of as a potentially disruptive influence. No one could have pictured him in those terms when he converted the penalty against Bosnia and Herzegovina that secured the berth at the finals.
It would seem that Blanc may have derived a long-term benefit from the tumult he inherited. There was a mandate for change and he had no cause to bow to reputation. In a smaller way, there is an echo of Capello's reaction to the tribulations of the World Cup. He, too, treated the woe as a reason to change. Both countries will expect to stride forward at the finals.
All the same, the hopes of Sweden and Ukraine will not have sunk too much. Ukraine, for instance, should not suffer from an excess of expectation by their countrymen since they are placed 55th in Fifa's world rankings. Only their co-hosts Poland, at 66th in the world, are of lower standing at the tournament.
The unknown element, as in the case of Poland, lies in the feats that can be achieved by well supported sides at home for one potentially life-changing summer. That interpretation has still to be offset by the reality that they lack daunting footballers.
The Poland manager, Andrzej Szarmach, was part of the memorable squad of the 1970s, along with Wlodzimierz Lubanski, Kazimierz Deyna and Grzegorz Lato. Lato, now president of the Polish football federation, is embroiled in accusations of financial impropriety over the purchase of land for its new headquarters.
All in all, it will take immense amounts of adrenalin-generated conviction to hoist Poland or Ukraine to greatness.
Ukraine have never come through the qualifiers for a European Championship. They did get to quarter-finals of World Cup in 2006, where they were eliminated by Italy, the winners of that tournament.
Oleg Blokhin is now in his second stint as manager, having taken up the post again in April. The squad are almost entirely drawn from Ukrainian clubs but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, at least, is on the books of Bayern Munich.
England have suffered for far too long to suppose that an easy road lies before them. Even so, the draw has extended an invitation to Capello's team. The opportunity to make an impact on Euro 2012 is in their own hands.
-
- Kevin McCarra
- guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 December 2011 19.23 GMT
- Article history
- Kevin McCarra
The days are gone when hopes for England soared at international tournaments but Euro 2012 offers at least a measure of reassurance for Fabio Capello and his squad in the group phase. France, the opponents in England's opening game, certainly pose a threat, but co-hosts Ukraine are relatively untried of late given the absence of competitive football.
If all goes to form, England could ease their way into the knockout stage and will anticipate stepping closer to that phase with a victory over Sweden at least. France appear to be the most intriguing of rivals. They are on a run of 17 matches undefeated. That steadiness is remarkable after the outcry over their unhappy experience at the 2010 World Cup.
They had come last in their group in South Africa and, with a single point, had one of the worst records in the tournament. The removal of Raymond Domenech as manager was assured but the damage went further than that. Laurent Blanc filled the vacancy and punished the members of the World Cup squad for their allegedly unprofessional behaviour by dropping all of them for the next match.
The game in question was just a friendly that was lost to Norway but a message had been delivered. In addition to that rebuke, Blanc aimed for revival by, in particular, recalling some players of North African descent such as Samir Nasri, now of Manchester City, as well as Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa, who had joined Newcastle United initially on loan in August 2010.
Blanc displayed a measure of boldness in his actions but also had to show fortitude after seeing his men slide to a 1-0 defeat against Belarus in Paris. Nasri had been perceived as unreliable in the past but the manager was disposed to put some faith in a player once thought of as a potentially disruptive influence. No one could have pictured him in those terms when he converted the penalty against Bosnia and Herzegovina that secured the berth at the finals.
It would seem that Blanc may have derived a long-term benefit from the tumult he inherited. There was a mandate for change and he had no cause to bow to reputation. In a smaller way, there is an echo of Capello's reaction to the tribulations of the World Cup. He, too, treated the woe as a reason to change. Both countries will expect to stride forward at the finals.
All the same, the hopes of Sweden and Ukraine will not have sunk too much. Ukraine, for instance, should not suffer from an excess of expectation by their countrymen since they are placed 55th in Fifa's world rankings. Only their co-hosts Poland, at 66th in the world, are of lower standing at the tournament.
The unknown element, as in the case of Poland, lies in the feats that can be achieved by well supported sides at home for one potentially life-changing summer. That interpretation has still to be offset by the reality that they lack daunting footballers.
The Poland manager, Andrzej Szarmach, was part of the memorable squad of the 1970s, along with Wlodzimierz Lubanski, Kazimierz Deyna and Grzegorz Lato. Lato, now president of the Polish football federation, is embroiled in accusations of financial impropriety over the purchase of land for its new headquarters.
All in all, it will take immense amounts of adrenalin-generated conviction to hoist Poland or Ukraine to greatness.
Ukraine have never come through the qualifiers for a European Championship. They did get to quarter-finals of World Cup in 2006, where they were eliminated by Italy, the winners of that tournament.
Oleg Blokhin is now in his second stint as manager, having taken up the post again in April. The squad are almost entirely drawn from Ukrainian clubs but Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, at least, is on the books of Bayern Munich.
England have suffered for far too long to suppose that an easy road lies before them. Even so, the draw has extended an invitation to Capello's team. The opportunity to make an impact on Euro 2012 is in their own hands.
Gang Chomba
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i pad3
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[h=1]Every black man I met where England will play has been beaten up by racists: How one journalist was stunned by the bigotry in the Ukrainian cities hosting our games[/h] By Angella Johnson
PUBLISHED: 00:06 GMT, 3 June 2012 | UPDATED: 00:13 GMT, 3 June 2012
Levi Nwankwo is a law-abiding, peaceful man, but as he walks briskly through Donetsk, the Ukrainian city in which he lives, he is in a state of high alert.
That is during the day. At night, he will travel only by cab. As a student, its a luxury he can ill afford, but after dark the streets arent safe. At least, not for a black man.
The 27-year-old Nigerian is 6ft tall and capable of defending himself but there was little he could do when he was ambushed by a gang of extreme Right-wing thugs last August.
Warning: Angella Johnson outside the Shakhtar Donetsk Stadium in Donetsk which will host England's game against France
He says: I was escorting a friend home one Sunday at about 9pm. I didnt want him walking alone at night. We had just stepped out of the door of the student hostel when suddenly five young white guys appeared out of the dark and started calling us racist names.
[h=4]More...[/h]
They were holding large stones in their hands, which they threw at us. We took cover in a shop doorway and called my friends in the hostel with my cellphone. When the cavalry arrived, our attackers fled like the cowards they were.
I had only been in the country five months and it was very frightening. If I had not already paid my money to the university, I might have got on the next flight home.
Levi, who is studying engineering, describes living in Ukraine as very scary for black people. He says: Theres a 50-50 chance something really bad will happen to you because of your skin colour. I know another African student who was beaten so badly by skinheads last year that he lost the hearing in his right ear.
His dad insisted that he transferred his studies to London. I dont think the police even got involved. When we tell them about a hate crime they usually use it as an opportunity to extort money from us for some fictional misdemeanour with our papers.
Open Hostilities: Racism and violence against ethnic minorities is thought to be rife among Ukrainian football fans who are seen here waving a Nazi swastika
We are talking on the street and Levi points to a shop nearby from which another Nigerian was dragged and then beaten by Right-wing extremists.
The worst thing is that so-called decent citizens will either walk or look on, without saying anything, he says.
Levi has mixed feelings about Ukraine co-hosting the Euro 2012 football tournament with Poland.
I love football but its dangerous to go to local matches, he says. We are afraid to go unless its in a group. I wont go unless there are ten or more of us.
And we make sure that we are the first out of the stadium. I dont think I would say to British blacks that they can come here and be safe. But I hope that, if they do, local whites will realise we are all Gods creatures.
Armel Wilfried, a 27-year-old economics student from the Ivory Coast, is another who was lured to Ukraine by the low student fees and easy admittance to degree courses.
We can live well here, he admits. But the racism is very bad.
The police and government have been criticised for not taking any serious action to counter the problems of hate crime - brazenly on show as football fans carry out a Nazi salute
He has two more years of his course to complete and is in no doubt that the European Championships, which start on Friday, should have been staged elsewhere.
Some people dont go out at night, others do so only in a group, he says. They are scared of being beaten up.
Armel has lost count of the number of times a complete stranger has approached him to say: What are you doing here, monkey?
He adds: They can be either young or old, male or female. Its almost an everyday thing, so you learn to accept it.
Armel recalls a recent fracas that occurred when he was having lunch in a cafe near the central market.
Five young men with close-cropped hair sat at a nearby table, he says.
One of them jabbed his finger in me. His face was red with anger and he snarled that I had no right to be in the country.
'He said it was for whites only and that banana-eating monkeys like me should go back to where we come from.
Almost every black man I approached in Donetsk last week told me they had suffered a racist physical attack. And all had been verbally abused several times.
It seems not much has changed in this part of the world in the 20 years since I visited Krakow in Poland and was followed by three young men who made ape noises and shouted insults about bananas.
What is happening in Ukraine today brings to mind the kind of racism that black people in Britain used to face in the Sixties, my mother once fought with a woman who asked to see her tail.
All three of Englands group matches are to be played in this former Soviet republic, but shocking and disturbing scenes in a Panorama film of football fans giving Nazi salutes and instigating racial violence on the terraces have led to calls for black and Asian fans to boycott the tournament.
Indeed, the Foreign Office has advised people of colour to be extra vigilant about their personal safety if they follow the England team.
Gangs of racist football hooligans in Ukraine were filmed training camp in woods outside Kiev for violence against visiting fans during this month's European championships
Fears: One expat Ukrainian living in London had warned that Donetsk, site of the Donbass Arena, pictured, where England will play two of their three group matches, is a hotbed of racism
He believes the local people lack exposure to the wider world but is hopeful that Euro 2012 could help to change attitudes: They will have the chance to discover that many Europeans are black too.
The Panorama exposé, and the piece about it that the film-maker Chris Rogers wrote for this paper last week, have forced the authorities to take action and clamp down on racist hooligans.
The local police chief has warned of tough sanctions but many believe that there is no real desire to tackle the problems.
And as Panorama editor Tom Giles pointed out to me: As far as we know, since the film was broadcast, no Polish or Ukrainian politician or football or police official has publicly condemned or even expressed any concern about the events we filmed or about the experiences described by the two black footballers who play full-time in Poland. Nor, for that matter, has anyone from UEFA.
As I travelled around Donetsk, no one made obscene gestures or monkey noises. No one made any remarks about bananas, or said anything untoward.
Yet I had a nagging sense of unease, of a sort I have never felt in London, or indeed in any other Western European city.
Can Euro 2012 begin the process of change that is clearly needed?
I hope so
Read more: Every black man I met where England will play has been beaten up by racists: How one journalist was stunned by the bigotry in the Ukrainian cities hosting our games | Mail Online
PUBLISHED: 00:06 GMT, 3 June 2012 | UPDATED: 00:13 GMT, 3 June 2012
Levi Nwankwo is a law-abiding, peaceful man, but as he walks briskly through Donetsk, the Ukrainian city in which he lives, he is in a state of high alert.
That is during the day. At night, he will travel only by cab. As a student, its a luxury he can ill afford, but after dark the streets arent safe. At least, not for a black man.
The 27-year-old Nigerian is 6ft tall and capable of defending himself but there was little he could do when he was ambushed by a gang of extreme Right-wing thugs last August.
He says: I was escorting a friend home one Sunday at about 9pm. I didnt want him walking alone at night. We had just stepped out of the door of the student hostel when suddenly five young white guys appeared out of the dark and started calling us racist names.
[h=4]More...[/h]
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They were holding large stones in their hands, which they threw at us. We took cover in a shop doorway and called my friends in the hostel with my cellphone. When the cavalry arrived, our attackers fled like the cowards they were.
I had only been in the country five months and it was very frightening. If I had not already paid my money to the university, I might have got on the next flight home.
Levi, who is studying engineering, describes living in Ukraine as very scary for black people. He says: Theres a 50-50 chance something really bad will happen to you because of your skin colour. I know another African student who was beaten so badly by skinheads last year that he lost the hearing in his right ear.
His dad insisted that he transferred his studies to London. I dont think the police even got involved. When we tell them about a hate crime they usually use it as an opportunity to extort money from us for some fictional misdemeanour with our papers.
We are talking on the street and Levi points to a shop nearby from which another Nigerian was dragged and then beaten by Right-wing extremists.
The worst thing is that so-called decent citizens will either walk or look on, without saying anything, he says.
Levi has mixed feelings about Ukraine co-hosting the Euro 2012 football tournament with Poland.
I love football but its dangerous to go to local matches, he says. We are afraid to go unless its in a group. I wont go unless there are ten or more of us.
And we make sure that we are the first out of the stadium. I dont think I would say to British blacks that they can come here and be safe. But I hope that, if they do, local whites will realise we are all Gods creatures.
Armel Wilfried, a 27-year-old economics student from the Ivory Coast, is another who was lured to Ukraine by the low student fees and easy admittance to degree courses.
We can live well here, he admits. But the racism is very bad.
He has two more years of his course to complete and is in no doubt that the European Championships, which start on Friday, should have been staged elsewhere.
Some people dont go out at night, others do so only in a group, he says. They are scared of being beaten up.
Armel has lost count of the number of times a complete stranger has approached him to say: What are you doing here, monkey?
He adds: They can be either young or old, male or female. Its almost an everyday thing, so you learn to accept it.
Armel recalls a recent fracas that occurred when he was having lunch in a cafe near the central market.
Five young men with close-cropped hair sat at a nearby table, he says.
One of them jabbed his finger in me. His face was red with anger and he snarled that I had no right to be in the country.
'He said it was for whites only and that banana-eating monkeys like me should go back to where we come from.
Almost every black man I approached in Donetsk last week told me they had suffered a racist physical attack. And all had been verbally abused several times.
It seems not much has changed in this part of the world in the 20 years since I visited Krakow in Poland and was followed by three young men who made ape noises and shouted insults about bananas.
What is happening in Ukraine today brings to mind the kind of racism that black people in Britain used to face in the Sixties, my mother once fought with a woman who asked to see her tail.
All three of Englands group matches are to be played in this former Soviet republic, but shocking and disturbing scenes in a Panorama film of football fans giving Nazi salutes and instigating racial violence on the terraces have led to calls for black and Asian fans to boycott the tournament.
Indeed, the Foreign Office has advised people of colour to be extra vigilant about their personal safety if they follow the England team.
Indignant Ukrainian authorities insist there is no problem. Yet there is evidence that the level of intolerance towards immigrants here is actually increasing.
According to a national poll in 2011, only three per cent of the countrys population want to see Asians living in their country for Africans the figure is 2.6 per cent.
And statistics show there has been a steady rise in hate crimes over the past two years.
One expat Ukrainian living in London had warned me that Donetsk, where England will play two of their three group matches, was a grim backwater stuck in a time warp.
And there are even reports of racially motivated murders taking place in the capital, Kiev.
Despite being in the regional power base of President Viktor Yanukovych who has helped to channel millions of pounds into improving the citys infrastructure Donetsk is, like much of Ukraine, a stamping ground for neo-Nazi extremists.
People are either poor or very rich there is no middle class. The political freedom that followed the 2004 orange revolution seems a distant memory as opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko languishes in prison on trumped-up charges.
Thugs: Members the Patriots, a racist gang of football hooligans, hold weekly training camps in a secret location where new recruits are trained for combat - here showing a journalist from Panorama their knife fighting skills
Little wonder then that former England footballer Sol Campbell and others, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are furious that Fifa has seen fit to hand the country such a prestigious international prize. Campbell even suggested that non-white fans going to Euro 2012 risk returning in coffins.
The police and government have been criticised for not taking any serious action to counter the problems of hate crime. In truth, most attacks go unreported because victims believe that the authorities will turn a blind eye.
The few female students from Africa I meet complain about being verbally abused. Zhasira, a 30-year-old Angolan, says: I was on a trolley bus and when I went to sit next to a woman she said very loudly that she didnt want to sit next to me. I was very upset.
Eric Matoukou is a Cameroonian footballer who plays in defence for Ukrainian team Arsenal Kiev. Every time he gets the ball, fans start making monkey sounds.
According to a national poll in 2011, only three per cent of the countrys population want to see Asians living in their country for Africans the figure is 2.6 per cent.
And statistics show there has been a steady rise in hate crimes over the past two years.
One expat Ukrainian living in London had warned me that Donetsk, where England will play two of their three group matches, was a grim backwater stuck in a time warp.
And there are even reports of racially motivated murders taking place in the capital, Kiev.
Despite being in the regional power base of President Viktor Yanukovych who has helped to channel millions of pounds into improving the citys infrastructure Donetsk is, like much of Ukraine, a stamping ground for neo-Nazi extremists.
People are either poor or very rich there is no middle class. The political freedom that followed the 2004 orange revolution seems a distant memory as opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko languishes in prison on trumped-up charges.
Little wonder then that former England footballer Sol Campbell and others, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are furious that Fifa has seen fit to hand the country such a prestigious international prize. Campbell even suggested that non-white fans going to Euro 2012 risk returning in coffins.
The police and government have been criticised for not taking any serious action to counter the problems of hate crime. In truth, most attacks go unreported because victims believe that the authorities will turn a blind eye.
The few female students from Africa I meet complain about being verbally abused. Zhasira, a 30-year-old Angolan, says: I was on a trolley bus and when I went to sit next to a woman she said very loudly that she didnt want to sit next to me. I was very upset.
Eric Matoukou is a Cameroonian footballer who plays in defence for Ukrainian team Arsenal Kiev. Every time he gets the ball, fans start making monkey sounds.
He believes the local people lack exposure to the wider world but is hopeful that Euro 2012 could help to change attitudes: They will have the chance to discover that many Europeans are black too.
The Panorama exposé, and the piece about it that the film-maker Chris Rogers wrote for this paper last week, have forced the authorities to take action and clamp down on racist hooligans.
The local police chief has warned of tough sanctions but many believe that there is no real desire to tackle the problems.
And as Panorama editor Tom Giles pointed out to me: As far as we know, since the film was broadcast, no Polish or Ukrainian politician or football or police official has publicly condemned or even expressed any concern about the events we filmed or about the experiences described by the two black footballers who play full-time in Poland. Nor, for that matter, has anyone from UEFA.
As I travelled around Donetsk, no one made obscene gestures or monkey noises. No one made any remarks about bananas, or said anything untoward.
Yet I had a nagging sense of unease, of a sort I have never felt in London, or indeed in any other Western European city.
Can Euro 2012 begin the process of change that is clearly needed?
I hope so
Read more: Every black man I met where England will play has been beaten up by racists: How one journalist was stunned by the bigotry in the Ukrainian cities hosting our games | Mail Online
Saint Ivuga
JF-Expert Member
- Aug 21, 2008
- 55,028
- 59,657
duh! kweli huko hakufai
Huko kama unataka kwenda kuona mpira unaenda na cha moto tu hakichagui rangi, mtu akileta ujinga unamvuja mguu halafu unawasubiri polisi si wanajifanya kuomba hela uone kama watakuomba hela bila kumushughulikia mwenzao, wajinga sana hao yaani ngozi yako tu ikufanye utabike hivyo.
Unaguzi upo kila nchi kila bara hata nchini kwetu ila kunakuzidiana vipimo, FIFA na UEFA hawajali World Cup ya South africa Media zilipiga kelele sana UK kuhusu ujambazi World Cup kuanza havijatokea ila hii ya Ubaguzi na Hooligan fujo zitatokea tu walikuwa timu zigome WOrld Cup kuwakomoa hizo Nchi sio kwenda na mchezaji kutoka uwanjani hapo watachemsha. Platini anaubaguzi wa timu za UK na FIFA wabaguzi kwa timu za Taifa za Africa hazifanyiwi haki ila East Europe wanaachiwa.
1.Porto alipigwa Fine washabiki ubaguzi elfu 20,000 na Uefa ila Man City wakapigwa na Uefa Elfu 35,000 kuchelewa kuingia uwanjani.
2. Spain walifanyia Ubaguzi England walipigwa Elfu 5000 ila EPL mtu Red card ya ngumi Elfu 10,000
3. Suarez FA walipatia kumpiga Fine game 8 na elfu 80,000 ila kila mtu anajuwa pia sababu ya u foreign wake pale UK pia inachangia tizama FA mtu wa Terry wanamfugia zambi Media kimya wanasubiri amalize Euro akipigwa Fine game za mwanzo labda EPL kaumia akirudi hata EPL haijakolea nao FA na UK media mabaguzi tu. Mie Liverpool ila wanavyomfanyia Rio sio vizuri kama kosa la Terry ndio RIO.
1.Porto alipigwa Fine washabiki ubaguzi elfu 20,000 na Uefa ila Man City wakapigwa na Uefa Elfu 35,000 kuchelewa kuingia uwanjani.
2. Spain walifanyia Ubaguzi England walipigwa Elfu 5000 ila EPL mtu Red card ya ngumi Elfu 10,000
3. Suarez FA walipatia kumpiga Fine game 8 na elfu 80,000 ila kila mtu anajuwa pia sababu ya u foreign wake pale UK pia inachangia tizama FA mtu wa Terry wanamfugia zambi Media kimya wanasubiri amalize Euro akipigwa Fine game za mwanzo labda EPL kaumia akirudi hata EPL haijakolea nao FA na UK media mabaguzi tu. Mie Liverpool ila wanavyomfanyia Rio sio vizuri kama kosa la Terry ndio RIO.
Inasikitisha kuna jamaa alinipa story ana Dada anamjua alihamia UK kutoka Poland alikuwa na Push chair ya mtoto anasukuma akaja mpolish huko Poland akamdumbukizia Ndizi kwa kumwambia yule Dada mpe Monkey wako, astaghafirulah mungu awaalaani au awape elimu. Sema hawa Polish wameelewa nao wakija nchi za watu wanabaguliwa nakufunguka wengine wanayo fanya ni ujinga hakuna faida unayopata.
babacollins
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 23, 2010
- 901
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Njowepo
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 26, 2008
- 9,710
- 2,249
UEFA Euro 2012 broadcasting rights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naona sasa itakuwa mambo ya kujiunga na TV fulani sijui ya wapi bse hakuna kituo ambacho kina rights.
Naona Super sports kama kawa watazimake sana ingawa jamaa watupiga sana watu wa Tz unlike kwao na apo Kenya tuu.
Imagine kwao compaq ni dola 18 while kwetu ni two times!
Naona sasa itakuwa mambo ya kujiunga na TV fulani sijui ya wapi bse hakuna kituo ambacho kina rights.
Naona Super sports kama kawa watazimake sana ingawa jamaa watupiga sana watu wa Tz unlike kwao na apo Kenya tuu.
Imagine kwao compaq ni dola 18 while kwetu ni two times!
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