‘NEVER AGAIN’ PRESENTS ANTI-RACISM MONITORING PROJECT IN POLISH PARLIAMENT
18 August 2011
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.
The MPs discussed results of hate crime, antisemitism and racism monitoring conducted by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and its Ukrainian partner Football Against Prejudices. It covers an 18 month period from September 2009 to March 2011, detailing 195 individual incidents involving football in Poland and Ukraine.
The representatives of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ emphasize the European Championship provides a chance for positive changes. – ‘We are implementing a social responsibility project for UEFA EURO 2012 titled RESPECT Diversity - Football Unites. Educational activities are an important part of the project’ – explains Rafal Pankowski.
In the recent period, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has been involved in numerous consultations, trainings and good practice exchanges in the run up to EURO 2012.
For instance, on 18 July 2011, Jacek Purski - a ‘NEVER AGAIN’ representative - chaired a special session at the international experts conference on ‘Ensuring Equal Chances Through Sport Participation’ organized by the Ministry of Sports and Tourism in frames of the Polish Presidency of the European Union at the City Hall in Wroclaw, a EURO 2012 host city.
On 23 June 2011, Pavel Klymenko, as a representative of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ and the FARE partner organization Football Against Prejudices (Ukraine), presented the findings of the East Europe Monitoring Centre at a session of the Council of Europe’s Standing Committee of the European Convention on Spectator Violence held in Rome.
On 22 June 2011, Rafal Pankowski took part in a training on hate symbols conducted by the FARE partner East European Development Institute in Donetsk (Ukraine), another EURO 2012 host city.
On 14-15 June 2011, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association hosted the FARE Network Expert Seminar on ‘Monitoring and Counteracting Racism in Football and Beyond’ which took place at the Polish Parliament and the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an anti-racist educational and monitoring organization established in Poland in 1996. It implements the FARE Network ‘Respect Diversity. Football Unites’ Project supported by UEFA in the lead up to the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.
More information:
www.nigdywiecej.org
www.farenet.org