Euro 2012: Stadiums of Hate

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:00:15. > :00:21.In 11 days' time, Europe's biggest festival of football, kicks off.

:00:21. > :00:28.But just how safe will some fans be? Bloody hell.

:00:28. > :00:33.I am concerned that they will be targeted by racists and fascists

:00:33. > :00:37.and antisemites in Poland and in the Ukraine. The European

:00:37. > :00:45.football's governing body says it has zero tolerance.

:00:45. > :00:51.I think this is embarrassing and it embarrasses the whole country.

:00:51. > :00:56.Panorama spends a month inside Poland and the Ukraine. We see the

:00:56. > :01:02.fans who routinely abuse. What kind of things do they say?

:01:02. > :01:05.Bad words. Like (BLEEP). The terraces where the fans give

:01:06. > :01:12.fascist salutes. The ground where the supporters are beaten for the

:01:12. > :01:16.colour of their skin. We were supporting the whole team.

:01:16. > :01:19.The families of two black England players have already said they

:01:19. > :01:25.won't go. Tonight a former captain condemns

:01:25. > :01:31.UEFA's choice of host nations. Would you recommend families to

:01:31. > :01:41.travel to Euro 2012? No chance. Stay at home. Watch it on TV. Don't

:01:41. > :01:51.

:01:51. > :01:54.even risk it. UEFA has a vision, a vision of a

:01:54. > :02:01.united European family of football. This June, the family of football

:02:01. > :02:10.has chosen to pay a visit to Eastern Europe.

:02:10. > :02:15.Poland, Europe. But with 100 years of footballing

:02:15. > :02:20.history, and they have some of the most passionate fans in the world.

:02:20. > :02:25.They have the stadiums, the speck kal, but they have a big problem, a

:02:25. > :02:33.reputation for violence and racism. So, does the family of football,

:02:33. > :02:43.really know what it is letting itself in for? I've spent a month

:02:43. > :02:45.

:02:45. > :02:51.watching league matches across these two countries to find out.

:02:51. > :02:57.My first stop.is Widzew, a city the size of Birmingham. It is not a

:02:57. > :03:03.host city for Euro 2012, but I've been told to see the dark heart of

:03:03. > :03:10.Polish football, I should come and watch the Widzew Derby.

:03:10. > :03:16.LKS, versus Widzew. For this match, the visiting fans have been banned

:03:16. > :03:19.from the LKS stadium. It is an hour before kick-off, the fans start

:03:19. > :03:22.running battles with the police who just want to get them into the

:03:22. > :03:26.stadium. It seems that a lot of them

:03:26. > :03:35.definitely came here to fight, but there are no away fans, they are

:03:35. > :03:40.banned from the match that turned on the police.

:03:40. > :03:44.They have started to target us for a little while there, throwing

:03:44. > :03:54.stones and fire crackers. It seems like anyone is a target if you are

:03:54. > :04:02.

:04:02. > :04:05.Every team in Poland has a hard- core of supporters. They call

:04:05. > :04:10.themselves Ultras. They create noise and atmosphere at the games,

:04:10. > :04:16.and they love to abuse the opposition.

:04:16. > :04:26.At this match, I was shocked to hear the terraces chanting that the

:04:26. > :04:34.

:04:34. > :04:38.None of the Ultras would talk to me, but I did speak to a fan who did

:04:38. > :04:43.not join in the chanting. Tell me about the antiSemitic chanting,

:04:43. > :04:48.what is that about? They don't think that they insult Jewish

:04:48. > :04:52.people, they just use it as a weapon to attack the opposite fans

:04:52. > :05:02.and the opposite club. But they must think badly of Jews

:05:02. > :05:03.

:05:03. > :05:10.if they think this is an insult? Yeah, they know this is an insult.

:05:10. > :05:15.In Widzew, two teams trade the word "Jew" as an insult, both on the

:05:15. > :05:21.pitch and in a tat for tat graffiti wall. All this in a city, where

:05:21. > :05:26.during the Second World War, the Nazis all but exterminated its

:05:26. > :05:30.230,000 Jews, for some football fans, the word Jew is now used for

:05:30. > :05:35.someone who deserves to be defeated and even killed.

:05:35. > :05:41.I lived in Widzew. I was shocked on the main street where I saw that

:05:41. > :05:45.Jews should be assigned to the gas. The idea that people walked past

:05:45. > :05:50.this every day and let that happen, it was difficult for me.

:05:50. > :05:54.Jonathan Ornstein has lived here for many years. He believes that

:05:54. > :05:58.football hooligans are yet to catch up with wider Polish sod. --

:05:58. > :06:03.society. I think they are looking to

:06:03. > :06:11.demonise the other team. The imagery that they are using is the

:06:11. > :06:17.Jewish talk. I think it embarrasses the whole country.

:06:18. > :06:22.My next step was Warsaw, the Polish capital and host city for Euro 2012.

:06:22. > :06:29.This is where the opening ceremony is to take place. Where the fans

:06:29. > :06:33.from all across Europe will be welcomed.

:06:33. > :06:41.Warsaw's biggest team is Legia. They have one of the largest

:06:41. > :06:45.followings in the Polish Premiership.

:06:45. > :06:51.However, this particular branch of the family of football also has a

:06:52. > :06:58.skeleton in the closet. If you're arriving here by train,

:06:58. > :07:04.this is the greeting you'll get. Further down the platform, it does

:07:04. > :07:08.not say "welcome to Warsaw" it says "welcome to hell" This graffiti

:07:08. > :07:13.celebrates the White Legion. One of many violent groups organised

:07:13. > :07:19.around football. Across the city they spray devotion to their team

:07:19. > :07:24.and to their politics. What we have here is racist

:07:24. > :07:30.graffiti. It also contains a very important

:07:30. > :07:33.racist symbol, the so-called Celtic cross, the white power sign. This

:07:33. > :07:38.symbol you can see often during the matches.

:07:38. > :07:43.Jacek Purski's work is supported by UEFA to monitor and combat racism

:07:43. > :07:48.among the fans. It is illegal to display such hate

:07:48. > :07:53.symbols during the football matches. According to the Polish law,

:07:53. > :08:03.putting this symbol at this wall is illegal. It promise oats fascism,

:08:03. > :08:05.

:08:05. > :08:13.it promise oats racism. In Widzew, I had seen racist

:08:13. > :08:18.banners pledging white pride and heard fans citing terms and monkey

:08:18. > :08:23.sounds on the pitch. Are you familiar with the monkey

:08:23. > :08:27.sounds? Yeah, but you try to ignore it. Many people are doing it.. I

:08:27. > :08:32.have problems with the players on the field. I try not to focus on it

:08:32. > :08:37.and try to go on my way. What sort of things do they say to

:08:37. > :08:40.you? Bad words like you are a (BLEEP) monkey or something like

:08:40. > :08:45.that. Is there a system to go to? Someone

:08:45. > :08:52.to report it to? The only person to report it is the referee, he does

:08:52. > :08:57.not do anything. He will just say to keep going. Racist symbols and

:08:57. > :09:02.antiSemitic chants have been a part of football for years. There are no

:09:02. > :09:08.official figures but a report vealed that in 2010, there were 133

:09:08. > :09:15.serious hate rimes inside the stadiums.

:09:15. > :09:25.-- hate crimes. Jacek Purski was a co-author who

:09:25. > :09:29.

:09:29. > :09:36.documented the offensive chants Today he's helping Euro 2012

:09:36. > :09:44.stewards learn to recognise racism. It can be an uphill struing until a

:09:44. > :09:54.country where ethnic and religious minorities are all but invisible.

:09:54. > :09:56.

:09:56. > :10:01.-- it can be an uphill struggle. A lot of work has been done. The

:10:01. > :10:08.situation is going in a good direction. Of course, we hope to

:10:08. > :10:14.have a peaceful, non-racist Euro 2012, but still around the league

:10:14. > :10:19.matches, from time to time, some incidents occur.

:10:19. > :10:28.Incidents like one that took place here. This is Rzeszow, a small town

:10:28. > :10:35.in Southern Poland. Two years ago, fans displayed a

:10:35. > :10:40.huge banner declaring "death to hook noses" at the time it went

:10:40. > :10:45.unpunish, though a year later, the Polish FA fined the club and a

:10:45. > :10:51.senior official lost his job. Even so, we filmed a repeat performance

:10:51. > :10:54.over a month ago. This time a banner declared the presence of the

:10:54. > :10:58.antiJew front. Although nothing was done in the

:10:58. > :11:04.match, the police later arrested the man holding the banner. The

:11:04. > :11:07.club was fined �1,000. The supporters were give an two-match

:11:07. > :11:11.ban. There's been a push as of late,

:11:11. > :11:16.obviously before the Euro, they don't want Poland to be embarrassed.

:11:16. > :11:26.We will see what happens with that, but I think there needs to be a

:11:26. > :11:31.deeper, more pro-longed effort to eradicate not just anti Semitism,

:11:31. > :11:37.but xenophobia. That is part of a larger issue here.

:11:37. > :11:46.This is Krakow, a city that is football crazy.

:11:46. > :11:56.This medieval city is to be home to the England squad during Euro 2012.

:11:56. > :12:02.It's another town where hooligans have hi-jacked the word "Jew."

:12:02. > :12:10.Tonight it is the Krakow Derby, Wisla vs Cracovia.

:12:10. > :12:17.Also known as the Holy War, for the intense rivalry between the two

:12:17. > :12:23.takes. -- teams.

:12:23. > :12:31.Just a few seats away from mine, I spot two which is which is fans.

:12:31. > :12:37.Both are wearing what look like anti Semitic T-shirts. Polish

:12:37. > :12:47.Ultras were not willing to speak on camera. I secretly filmed a chat at

:12:47. > :13:05.

:13:06. > :13:09.halt. So, this is a Pole

:13:09. > :13:15.Polish club? Your club? Yesment yes. I got it.

:13:15. > :13:25.Soon, the war of words turned into a war of missiles. The opposing

:13:25. > :13:30.

:13:30. > :13:36.hooligans vented their anger on the Watching the match was Nick Lowles

:13:36. > :13:42.from Hope Not Hate. An antiracist monitoring group. He had flown out

:13:42. > :13:48.to see what the British fans could expect from Poland.

:13:48. > :13:52.As we saw tonight, people had T- shirts on, they were not confronted

:13:52. > :13:55.by stewards. My concern is what happens outside of the stadium. The

:13:55. > :14:00.positive thing with English football is that increasing numbers

:14:00. > :14:06.of Asian fans are travelling to support England. I'm concerned that

:14:06. > :14:11.they will be targeted by racists and fascists and antisemites in

:14:11. > :14:16.Poland and the Ukraine. It is not just Eastern Europe where

:14:16. > :14:23.racism in football is an issue. Charges of racism has hit the

:14:23. > :14:29.headlines across the country. Especially in the UK.

:14:29. > :14:33.John Terry is to go to trial facing ariesism remark. Whatever the

:14:34. > :14:37.outcome, one man who has faced racism at first-hand is another

:14:38. > :14:40.former England captain, Sol Campbell. I showed him our footage,

:14:40. > :14:46.to see how the countries come paired.

:14:46. > :14:50.It is incredible how organised it All the chants of killing Jews it

:14:50. > :14:55.is sickening to the core. I'm glad it is not like that in England. I

:14:55. > :15:05.know it was at one stage, but in the 21 century, this is on another

:15:05. > :15:15.Leaving Poland behind, I wondered if what I found in Ukraine could

:15:15. > :15:16.

:15:16. > :15:21.This is the capital, Kiev. It is where the Euro 2012 finals are

:15:21. > :15:26.going to be played. Ukraine looks ready to host the euros, but were

:15:26. > :15:36.their fans ready to welcome waves of visitors from all across Europe?

:15:36. > :15:46.

:15:46. > :15:52.I went to a Premier League match, UEFA say they have zero tolerance

:15:52. > :15:55.of racism on the terraces. Yet these distant cousins in the family

:15:55. > :16:02.of football seemed to have zero tolerance for anyone who was not

:16:02. > :16:12.white. While police and stewards look on, a relative of one black

:16:12. > :16:19.

:16:19. > :16:27.That is just so sad. It is incredible. The thing about it is

:16:27. > :16:30.that it is little kids, girls and boys. As recently as 2008, Sol

:16:30. > :16:34.Campbell was racially abused at a Premiership match. Those fans were

:16:35. > :16:41.arrested and prosecuted, but at this match in Ukraine police did

:16:41. > :16:45.nothing. I cannot believe it, it just makes me feel sick, and I just

:16:45. > :16:51.feel empty. I feel hurtful, because I know what those guys are going

:16:51. > :16:56.through. I would hate to live in a place like that, just going in to

:16:56. > :17:06.play a football game, you know, being subjected to all this abuse,

:17:06. > :17:08.

:17:08. > :17:18.and no-one is doing anything about Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city and

:17:18. > :17:21.

:17:21. > :17:31.This is the Metalist Stadium, soon to host Portuguese, Dutch, Danish

:17:31. > :17:34.

:17:34. > :17:39.What went on here I had only seen in films about the Second World War.

:17:39. > :17:46.Massed ranks, all doing a Nazi salute.

:17:46. > :17:50.During the first half, I saw men, women, girls and boys of all ages,

:17:50. > :17:54.giving the Hitler salute and shouting Sieg Heil. I have spoken

:17:54. > :17:58.to a few have the fans here, and they have confirmed that they are

:17:58. > :18:07.saying Sieg Heil because Hitler hated Jews and blacks, and that is

:18:07. > :18:15.With Euro 2012 just around the corner, what were the police

:18:15. > :18:21.planning to do about this? How concerned are you about the

:18:21. > :18:25.possibility of racist displays inside the Metalist Stadium?

:18:25. > :18:29.TRANSLATION: Regarding Kharkiv and the whole of the Ukraine, up until

:18:29. > :18:35.now, we have not had any such incidents. There have been on, and

:18:35. > :18:42.I hope that during the Euro 2012 Championship we will not have any.

:18:42. > :18:48.In fact, Ukrainian fans are very friendly. At the Metalist Stadium,

:18:48. > :18:53.I saw approximately 2000 people do the Nazi salute to their team.

:18:53. > :18:57.no, it is not a Nazi salute. It is... They were pointing in the

:18:57. > :19:01.direction of the opponents, so it looked like they were pointing with

:19:01. > :19:10.the right hand to the fans, kind of attracting attention to themselves.

:19:10. > :19:14.So it is not Nazi. Sieg Heil! Perhaps something had been lost in

:19:15. > :19:21.translation. I was sure of what I had seen, football fans doing Nazi

:19:21. > :19:26.salutes. Across town, I met up with a football fanatic who is also part

:19:26. > :19:31.of a far-right organisation. hide in his place in the market,

:19:31. > :19:37.nobody can find us, any cops, any government guys. By Dean did not

:19:37. > :19:41.have any time for UEFA's vision of a multicultural family of football.

:19:41. > :19:46.-- Vadym. The Celtic cross, show. It is not founded today because we

:19:46. > :19:56.have a match, just people relaxing. Does it annoy you if you have a

:19:56. > :20:02.

:20:02. > :20:07.black player playing for you? Do The whole bar was a shrine to far-

:20:07. > :20:13.right extremism. They had Celtic crosses, swastikas and white power

:20:13. > :20:17.symbols. There was also worked and help they -- there was also an

:20:18. > :20:24.unhealthy obsession with Nazi Germany, but it was harder to pin

:20:24. > :20:34.down exactly what Vadym believed in. Are you a Nazi? Do you support some

:20:34. > :20:39.

:20:39. > :20:42.Vadym is a recruiter for a group called Patriot of Ukraine. This is

:20:42. > :20:52.a Patriot video, where they claim to be running out illegal

:20:52. > :21:06.

:21:06. > :21:09.Do you recruit from the stands? Do you find new members? Oh, yeah!

:21:09. > :21:15.could see why football terraces could be fertile recruiting grounds

:21:15. > :21:25.for the Patriots. Since the break- up of the Soviet Union, right-wing

:21:25. > :21:27.politics and hooliganism have gone At this match, I spotted two fans

:21:27. > :21:37.with Patriot logos on their T- shirts. It was not long before the

:21:37. > :21:52.

:21:52. > :21:55.It was a gesture I would see at I had another appointment with the

:21:55. > :22:05.Patriots, this time to see how they took football hooligans and trained

:22:05. > :22:23.

:22:24. > :22:28.We are meeting a trainer in the use You keep it secret?

:22:28. > :22:31.I had seen videos of Patriot events where they had rallied hundreds of

:22:31. > :22:41.supporters, but at this training session there were just a handful

:22:41. > :22:50.There are no reliable figures for Patriot membership, but they do

:22:50. > :22:52.have a presence in all the Euro What makes them dangerous is not

:22:52. > :23:02.only their extreme right-wing views, but they're clearly ready for

:23:02. > :23:06.British government advice for Euro 2012 is for black or Asian fans to

:23:06. > :23:15.take extra care in Ukraine because of the possibility of racist

:23:15. > :23:23.Officially, Patriots say they do not condone attacks on foreigners,

:23:23. > :23:27.but when I spoke to one recruit, that did not sound so clear cut.

:23:28. > :23:31.TRANSLATION: We are learning to shoot, and we are learning tactical

:23:31. > :23:36.combat, and military preparation, and we can take all this training

:23:36. > :23:46.onto the streets. I can also add, because my face is hidden, that

:23:46. > :23:50.these skills have already been used I have no way of knowing how much

:23:51. > :23:56.of what they say is just bluster, but earlier this month in the host

:23:56. > :24:01.city of Kharkiv, there were two stabbings, and both victims were

:24:01. > :24:04.Nigerian students. Last month, UEFA responded to the

:24:04. > :24:08.possibility of racist attacks. They announced funding for so-called

:24:09. > :24:12.inclusivity zones, secure Areas outside of stadiums where

:24:12. > :24:17.supporters of all backgrounds can feel safe. But have they done

:24:17. > :24:21.enough to combat racism before the tournament begins? We asked for an

:24:21. > :24:26.interview with Michel Platini, the president of UEFA, but we were told

:24:26. > :24:36.that he was too busy to speak to us. However, in a statement, UEFA told

:24:36. > :25:02.

:25:02. > :25:07.Back at the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv, it was the final game of

:25:07. > :25:12.the season. Of the pitch, it was said to be the most violent. This

:25:12. > :25:16.is one of the stadiums that will be hosting matches in Euro 2012.

:25:16. > :25:21.Tonight, it is hosting a match between two of the country's

:25:21. > :25:28.biggest teams. Now, the local police have told me they have never

:25:28. > :25:35.seen any evidence of racism on Vadym from the Patriots took me

:25:35. > :25:39.into one of the most volatile parts of the stadium, the Ultras' stand.

:25:39. > :25:42.Why are you in competition with that side of the stadium? Bloody

:25:42. > :25:50.hell! It was not long before it lived up

:25:50. > :25:55.Bloody hell! I am getting out of here!

:25:55. > :26:02.Things went from bad to worse. With no segregation in the stadium,

:26:02. > :26:05.scuffles are breaking out between rival fans all over. Suddenly, at

:26:05. > :26:15.the Metalist hooligans spotted a new target, a small group of their

:26:15. > :26:22.

:26:22. > :26:27.Only these supporters were not Innocent people, innocent, look at

:26:28. > :26:37.them, it is just gangland! And no- one is helping, no police is

:26:38. > :26:38.

:26:38. > :26:43.helping. Look at that. Look at That is absolutely disgusting. I

:26:43. > :26:52.cannot believe that. No-one has come... At last, someone is helping

:26:52. > :26:55.him. It is lawless! It is lawless! I want to cry for them. I want to

:26:55. > :27:00.cry for them, because someone is living there, thinking, is someone

:27:00. > :27:06.going to kill me today because of my colour? These Indian students

:27:06. > :27:11.have been studying in Ukraine for the last few years. They sat in the

:27:11. > :27:15.family section, thinking it would be safe. Ukrainian football does

:27:15. > :27:20.find clubs when fans misbehave, but it set was unable to tell us if any

:27:20. > :27:30.action had been taken over this incident. At Euro 2012, UEFA say

:27:30. > :27:36.

:27:36. > :27:43.the Ukrainians will have primary So it was very planned? They

:27:43. > :27:53.trapped you? Gosh. Are the police going to help you to get home

:27:53. > :27:56.

:27:57. > :28:00.safely? They are not going to help Do you think UEFA were wrong, then,

:28:00. > :28:05.to choose Poland and Ukraine? think they were wrong, because what

:28:05. > :28:08.they should say is that, until we see a massive improvement, that you

:28:08. > :28:12.have sorted that, you're never going to get his tournament. You do

:28:12. > :28:21.not deserve these prestigious tournaments in your country. Would

:28:21. > :28:26.you recommend families to travel to Euro 2012? No chance. Stay at home,

:28:26. > :28:34.watch it on TV. Don't even risk it, because you could end up coming

:28:34. > :28:39.back in a coffin. UEFA say that the legacy of Euro 2012 will be to help