| Politicised sport: Euro 2012 Jun 8th 2012, 07:04 The European Football (soccer for Americans) championships are undergoing many political upheavals. They are due to be held in Poland and Ukraine. Western European teams are multi-racial. After decades of fighting against racism, these teams are now not used to encountering it, but in both Poland and Ukraine crowds are often hostile to black players. So racism is one problem. The other problem is the regime in Ukraine and its treatment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is suffering much abuse in prison. Many western governments have therefore decided to boycott the matches that are held in Ukraine. (Normally ministers would be there en masse, supporting their national teams.) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18351326 Quote:
UK government ministers will boycott England's group games in the European football championships in Ukraine.
The move is in protest at the "selective justice" meted out to jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
Other EU nations including Germany, Holland and Austria have also threatened a boycott of the tournament being jointly hosted with Poland.
Ukraine's ambassador to the UK said "sport and politics do not mix" and concerns must be raised in other ways.
Ms Tymoshenko played a key role in the Orange Revolution in 2004 and says her imprisonment, for alleged corruption, is an act of political revenge by Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych.
The authorities have rejected Ms Tymoshenko's allegations. She was jailed for seven years in October, for abuse of power during her time as prime minister.
Last week, she ended a 20-day hunger strike after being moved to a hospital in Kharkiv where she is being treated by a German doctor...
...Asked about the boycott, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Ukraine had "serious problems" and the UK government did not want its backing for the England team to be interpreted as "giving political support to some things which have been happening in Ukraine which we don't agree with"
| http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18363736 Quote:
Netherlands' black players were allegedly subjected to racist abuse during their open training session in the Polish city of Krakow.
Dutch captain Mark van Bommel branded the monkey chants as "a real disgrace"...
...The abuse comes just a day after they had visited the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, which is nearby.
Van Bommel said: "It is a real disgrace, especially after getting back from Auschwitz, that you are confronted with this.
"We will take it up with Uefa and if it happens at a match we will talk to the referee and ask him to take us off the field."
Martin Lipton, from the Daily Mirror, is in Krakow and suggested there was a large number of Polish fans involved in the abuse...
...Earlier this week Uefa president Michel Platini told BBC Sport that referees have been instructed to call a halt to matches at this summer's tournament if a player is racially taunted...
...Former England centre-back Sol Campbell, meanwhile, was compelled to advise fans to avoid the tournament after seeing the Panorama footage of supporters in Ukraine giving Nazi salutes and taunting black players with monkey noises.
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