To the problem of corruption in Polish football was recently added the issue of racism. There is news of racist outbursts after nearly every round of league play. Clubs, whose arenas stage these excesses, remain unpunished. On 9 of May 2008, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights sent a letter to the Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in which it voiced serious concern about recent racist incidents. (16-MAY-08) 

Written by Agnieszka Chmielecka/ HRH Warsaw

A player of one of the football clubs recently strut around in a controversial T-shirt with anti-Semitic meaning and supporters of several other clubs insulted dark-skinned players playing for them or for opposing clubs. Supporters boo and imitate monkeys, shout out abusive slogans and spread out banners with racist mottos. The actions undertaken by the Polish Football Association (PZPN), UEFA, as well as by the public institutions like the Police or the prosecutor’s office seem to be ineffective.

‘I have received disturbing signals concerning racism in Poland’ – stated William Gaillard, head of the UEFA division responsible for fighting racism.

HFHR expectations
HFHR expects from the Government with special contribution of the Minister of Sports, new approach towards counteracting racism on football stadiums. First thing that the Foundation underlines is the necessity to intensify the pressure on institutions managing the football league to effectively implement the antiracist provisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and internal regulations passed by the Polish Football Association. Secondly, HFHR expects increasing the activity of the Police and prosecutor office in combating the racial discrimination. The Polish criminal law provisions against racist offences provide effective instruments to initiate criminal proceedings against persons responsible for racist acts.

Non-legal actions
Furthermore, in Foundation’s opinion, the Government should initiate and support some non-legal actions, including international campaigns against racism such as “Let’s kick out racism out of football” coordinated in Poland by “NEVER AGAIN” Association or the campaign “All Different – All Equal” carried out by the Council of Europe.

The Prime Minister Donald Tusk is well-known as a football fan and that is why the Foundation hopes that he will react with strong determination on the problem of racism in football as racist incidents on Polish stadiums have a detrimental effect on the perception of our country in Europe and all over the world.