EURO 2012 WITHOUT RACISM
One of the most important problems relating to the safety and security of UEFA EURO 2012™ is to avoid any incidents of racist nature. That is why PL.2012 commenced cooperation with the "Never Again" Association.
UEFA pays particular attention to ensuring that during events organised under its auspices neither racism nor xenophobia is displayed – both among the fans and among the players. This is visible not only through enormous penalties imposed on those clubs which allow for racist songs or banners on their stadia, but also through the fact that UEFA has for many years sponsored numerous informational and educational programmes aiming at counteracting racist attitudes among fans. Coordination of these programmes was vested in FARE federation (Football Against Racism in Europe) which - since 2001 - is an official partner of UEFA.
During last year's European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland FARE in cooperation with FSI federation (Football Supporters International) organised a network of stationary and mobile Fan Embassies, which were specialist information points for football fans. Moreover, in every city welcoming UEFA EURO 2008 participants informational campaigns were organised, along with football competitions and other events whose aim was to draw attention to the problem of racism in sport. Similar programme will be put into life during EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Organisation of such events will be vested in the "Never Again" Association, an NGO founded in 1996 involved in counteracting racist attitudes, xenophobia and intolerance on Polish stadia. As the founding member of FARE, "Never Again" is responsible for the implementation of anti-racism programmes addressed to supporters in Poland and Ukraine. The most popular such campaign implemented in recent years was the "Lets kick out racism from our stadia" [Wykopmy rasizm ze stadionów] campaign.
Commencement of the cooperation between "Never Again" Association and PL.2012 was facilitated by the meeting held on 8 January in the company's headquarters. The meeting was attended by Tadeusz Zygmunt, National Security Coordinator and members of the safety and security team of Pl.2012, as well as Jacek Purski, representative of "Never Again" Association, responsible for the preparation of anti-racism informational campaign during European Championships in Poland. The common objectives of both these entities will be in the coming years to ensure that the staging of UEFA EURO 2012™ is not interfered by any unwanted incidents. Attendees of the meeting agreed however that in order to achieve this goal the actions taken only during the tournament will not be sufficient. Therefore, in the coming weeks joint activities will be commenced aiming at extending the programme of obligatory training for stewarding staff with a block devoted to identification of racist symbols used in various European countries. Appropriate training materials will be elaborated. During EURO 2012 racist symbols will not be allowed to be exposed at any venues relating to the tournament. Owners of scarfs, T-shirts or any other gadgets which are racist or xenophobic in nature will have to take into account that they will not be allowed on the stadium or in the official fan zone.
Cooperation between "Never Again" Association and PL.2012 will cover also the implementation of a wide informational campaign in the years preceding the Championship and organisation of a series of local educational events. The scope of planned activities aimed at prevention provides reasonable assurance that during UEFA EURO 2012 no person will bring shame on Poland by public display of racist views. One of the most important problems relating to the safety and security of UEFA EURO 2012™ is to avoid any incidents of racist nature. That is why PL.2012 commenced cooperation with the "Never Again" Association.
UEFA pays particular attention to ensuring that during events organised under its auspices neither racism nor xenophobia is displayed – both among the fans and among the players. This is visible not only through enormous penalties imposed on those clubs which allow for racist songs or banners on their stadia, but also through the fact that UEFA has for many years sponsored numerous informational and educational programmes aiming at counteracting racist attitudes among fans. Coordination of these programmes was vested in FARE federation (Football Against Racism in Europe) which - since 2001 - is an official partner of UEFA.
During last year's European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland FARE in cooperation with FSI federation (Football Supporters International) organised a network of stationary and mobile Fan Embassies, which were specialist information points for football fans. Moreover, in every city welcoming UEFA EURO 2008 participants informational campaigns were organised, along with football competitions and other events whose aim was to draw attention to the problem of racism in sport. Similar programme will be put into life during EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Organisation of such events will be vested in the "Never Again" Association, an NGO founded in 1996 involved in counteracting racist attitudes, xenophobia and intolerance on Polish stadia. As the founding member of FARE, "Never Again" is responsible for the implementation of anti-racism programmes addressed to supporters in Poland and Ukraine. The most popular such campaign implemented in recent years was the "Lets kick out racism from our stadia" [Wykopmy rasizm ze stadionów] campaign.
Commencement of the cooperation between "Never Again" Association and PL.2012 was facilitated by the meeting held on 8 January in the company's headquarters. The meeting was attended by Tadeusz Zygmunt, National Security Coordinator and members of the safety and security team of Pl.2012, as well as Jacek Purski, representative of "Never Again" Association, responsible for the preparation of anti-racism informational campaign during European Championships in Poland. The common objectives of both these entities will be in the coming years to ensure that the staging of UEFA EURO 2012™ is not interfered by any unwanted incidents. Attendees of the meeting agreed however that in order to achieve this goal the actions taken only during the tournament will not be sufficient. Therefore, in the coming weeks joint activities will be commenced aiming at extending the programme of obligatory training for stewarding staff with a block devoted to identification of racist symbols used in various European countries. Appropriate training materials will be elaborated. During EURO 2012 racist symbols will not be allowed to be exposed at any venues relating to the tournament. Owners of scarfs, T-shirts or any other gadgets which are racist or xenophobic in nature will have to take into account that they will not be allowed on the stadium or in the official fan zone.
Cooperation between "Never Again" Association and PL.2012 will cover also the implementation of a wide informational campaign in the years preceding the Championship and organisation of a series of local educational events. The scope of planned activities aimed at prevention provides reasonable assurance that during UEFA EURO 2012 no person will bring shame on Poland by public display of racist views.