Will the Euros bring fans from hell and ‘stadiums of hate’?

Whatever one’s opinion is of BBC Panorama, it is difficult to dispute that the show addresses issues that the varying establishments which it investigates, would rather see swept under the carpet.

The most recent show explored the murky underground problems of racist and anti-Semitic football hooliganism in Poland & Ukraine, the host nations of the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012.

UEFA is supposedly serious about tackling the problem of racism within football, and since the early 2000s has seriously ramped up their anti-racism campaign. However, racism still remains a relatively common and deeply problematic issue within European football.

On our own shores this year we have seen the John Terry-Anton Ferdinand and Patrice Evra – Luis Suarez incidents, and whilst these created ugly headlines and brought home that racism still persists in English football, it is worth noting that the Premier League has one of the best reputations within Europe of tackling racism amongst its fans and players.

Eastern European football does not enjoy the same media spotlight as the rest of Europe. Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s LA Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1 all receive a degree of attention in the British press.

It is rare, however, to see attention drawn to the Polish League and teams like Legia Warsaw, or the Ukrainian League and teams like Shakhtar Donetsk. It is here – and Eastern Europe as a whole – where racism within football is at its worst, as the BBC’s Panorama suggests.

Couple this with a region where anti-Semitism permeates both football culture and the wider society at an alarming rate, and UEFA’s vision for an anti-racist, cosmopolitan football family is in tatters.

FIFA is as anti-racist as UEFA, yet football’s world governing body awarded Russia the 2018 World Cup. Russian football contains some of the most graphic examples of racism within the sport.

In August 2010 Lokomotiv Moscow sold Nigerian striker Peter Odemwinge to West Brom. The next week the Lokomotiv fans displayed a banner saying ‘Thanks West Brom’ with a large banana painted in the middle. Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos, playing for mega-rich Anzi Makhachkala, is one black player who has been subject to ‘banana throwing’, a regular form of racist abuse in Russian football stadiums.

A video of a clearly distressed Roberto Carlos leaving the pitch after racist abuse can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbHEBy1e7aI)

The BBC Panorama programme highlights what most people within football already know but are afraid to admit: that despite improvements, racism still remains a serious unsolved problem within football.

Awarding the tournament to nations with long records of racist football hooliganism is a risky and somewhat hypocritical step by UEFA, however, I would be surprised to see a serious incident of racism or fan hooliganism during the tournament.

With the global media focused on Poland and Ukraine, their fans are likely to be on their best behaviour for the three and a half weeks of Euro 2012.

But, after the cameras leave and the dust settles on the European Championships, it is highly likely that the engrained racism will return to football stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.

All this highlights what Panorama points out, and what UEFA won’t admit: that racism still remains a dangerously unresolved problem within football.