Polish FA President Declares War on Anti-Racist Organisation

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Subject: Polish FA President Declares War on Anti-Racist Organisation

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Original sender: Rafal Pankowski <[email protected]>

Polish FA President Declares War on Anti-Racist Organisation


14 July 2001   
PRESS RELEASE
POLISH FA PRESIDENT DECLARES WAR ON ANTI-RACIST ORGANISATION

The Extraordinary Congress of the International Footbal Federation
(FIFA) held in Buenos Aires on 6-7 July called upon national football
associations to join the struggle against racism and to work with
non-governemental organisations. The president of the Polish FA
returned from the Congress and started fighting: not against racism
but against an anti-racist organisation.

FIFA had invited members of independent anti-racist groups working
together under the aegis of Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE)
to share their experiences of campaigning against xenophobia in
sports. Among others, Jolanta Skubiszewska, a representative of the
Polish 'Never Again' Association, described the situation in Poland.
Anti-Semitic slogans and neo-fascist symbols at stadiums as well as
occurences of racial abuse against Black players were noted. Ms
Skubiszewska described anti-racist campaigns initiated by Polish
football fans and supported by "Never Again". She said she hoped the
Polish sports authorities would increase their efforts to combat
racism.

The Polish NGO presentation was well received by the audience but it
met with a furious reaction of the Polish FA delegation who denied the
problem of racism ever existed in Polish football. "How dare you say
such things about Poland abroad" - said one member of the delegation
to the representative of "Never Again".

On his return to Poland, Michal Listkiewicz, the president of the
Polish FA called a press conference and subsequently gave a number of
interviews to the biggest radio stations and the tabloid press (eg.
the 0.5m circulation "Superexpres") in which he referred to the
participation of "Never Again" in the FIFA Congress as a "scandal".
Listkiewicz said the NGO presentation was "embarassing" and "nobody
took it seriously". He called Ms Skubiszewska "a silly girl". He
further explained "her only motivation was to show she spoke good
English".

According to Listkiewicz the representative of "Never Again" had
stated "Poland is a racist and anti-Semitic country" and "half of the
Poles are anti-Semites and the other half are racists". In fact no
such phrases appeared in the speech. [The full text of the
presentation made at the FIFA Congress is available form the "Never
Again" Association.] Speaking about racist attacks Listkiewicz
dismissed them as "not worth any attention".

Listkiewicz repeatedly stated that "nobody has ever heard of any
organisation under the name Never Again".

The "Never Again" Association has been active since the early 1990s
and it has been featured in numerous tv and radio programmes and press
articles. Since 1994 the "Never Again" magazine has been published as
a source of information on racism and the extreme right. The
activities of "Never Again" have been valued highly by, among others,
Simon Wiesenthal.

The anti-racist sport campaign run by "Never Again" is supported by
fan groups, sport journalists, and players. "Never Again" is a
founding-member of Football Against Racism in Europe and it has been
involved in the Ad Hoc Working Group on Racism in Sport of the Council
of Europe.

"It is a pity Mr Listkiewicz is spending his time and energy on
fighting our organisation. I believe he'd better spend his time
fighting racism in football" - said Marcin Kornak, the chairman of the
"Never Again" Association.
 
If you would like to express your disapproval of the slander campaign
of the Polish FA and solidarity with the "Never Again" Association you
can write to: 
Mr Michal Listkiewicz 
[email protected] ; [email protected] , 
fax +48 22 827 0704, 827 1674
with a copy to the "Never Again" Association 
[email protected] 

For more information contact Rafal Pankowski 
[email protected], 
phone +48 603 647228.

Web sites of interest:
www.nigdywiecej1.px.pl
www.farenet.org
www.fifa.com
 
Rafal Pankowski
Stowarzyszenie 'Nigdy Wiecej'/'Never Again' Association
PO Box 6
03-700 Warszawa 4
Poland
http://www.nigdywiecej1.px.pl

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