WARSAW CONFERENCE TO LAUNCH FARE EURO 2012 ACTIVITIES
4 June 2011
The 'NEVER AGAIN' Association will this week host a conference to launch the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) programme to challenge extremism and racism at next year's UEFA European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.
An audience of Polish government ministers, European activists, former players and representatives of governing bodies of football will attend the Polish Parliament and the Polish Foreign Ministry Palace for an expert seminar on Tuesday and Wednesday. The seminar will set out the issues facing the host countries of the Euro 2012.
The 'NEVER AGAIN' Association, who run the FARE Eastern European Monitoring Centre, recently launched a far ranging monitoring report, documenting levels of racism and hate crimes in football settings since 2009.
The report highlighted continuing levels of anti- Semitism in Poland and far- right activity in Ukraine as issues to be dealt with. Incidents of abuse and violence inside stadiums over the past few weeks have underlined the message of the report.
Amongst the initiatives being launched this week will be a FARE observer programme at the Euro 2012 and an ‘Inclusivity Zones’ concept that will nominate hundreds of public spaces across Poland and Ukraine as welcome and open places, where difference will be valued. The idea is already being hailed as an innovative step and is expected to attract widespread support.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an anti-racist educational and monitoring organization established in Poland in 1996. Since 2009, ‘NEVER AGAIN’ has coordinated the FARE East European Development Project supported by UEFA in the lead up to Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.