A Hool Lot of Concerns?

After a crazy weekend last week of saying goodbye to Adam Malysz, not much has actually happened since.
This week's blog doesn't shift too far away from the world of sports, but it does take on a more serious issue that could prove to be crucial in the next few months leading up to the 2012 European Cup that will be hosted by Poland and neighboring Ukraine.

Tickets are going pretty fast for the finals with more than 12 million requests for tickets. The Union of European Football Association (UEFA) has announced that this is a historical all-time record for requests. This is great news for the economies of both countries. In 2008, when Portugal had hosted the cup, many officials were satisfied with the income that the demands for tickets have brought in. For 2012, the demand for tickets is more than 17% higher than it had been in 2008 (The European Cup is hosted every four years).

Obviously, it's pretty easy to say that Poland and Ukraine will enjoy the benefits of being hosts cities. However, recently UEFA has raised some concerns over the significant problem that Poland has been having with its' hooligans. For all of you Green Street Hooligans fans, this is not quite the same, but the situation isn't too different. Just a few months ago in January, a man was killed during a match in a clash with over a 100 fans of the rival team.

Also, in the spotlight has been the problem with both Polish and Ukrainian racist fans. Over the last few years, over 200 cases have been reported in league and international matches involving racist comments, chants, or posters. UEFA is very concerned with these reports but have repeatedly confirmed that they will not move the Euros to a different location. Poland has perhaps the more severe worries than Ukraine when it comes to Hooligan level. Just recently in a match between Poland and Lithuania (0-2) Polish hooligans threw bottles and flares onto the field as their side was losing a match that they easily should have won.

Polish officials are worried about the level of concern this has brought to UEFA officials. Polish officials are assuring everyone that the level of security will be at the ultimate highest level and that the atmosphere during the tournament are going to be friendly for everyone, including families with little children. Marcin Herra, head of Poland 2012, said there was no possibility of the tournament being moved - "We have no other way," he said - but stressed that there will be severe measures in force to keep the hooligans under control.

The plan that Poland is thinking of going ahead with includes everyone that buys a ticket to register with their name and a picture ID. This will allow the police to easily identify those who are caught on the stadium's cameras causing any kind of havoc or disturbances. I too, am planning on attending the Euros in Poland and hope that this "high level of security" is really put into place, because some of the things these hooligans are capable of is seriously scary. Something that has frequently crossed my mind is how EUFA and the Polish government will be able to stop ticket scalpers from selling tickets to hooligans and preventing them from coming into the stadium. I'm sure that's something that has been talked about by officials, but I wouldn't be so sure that they have a solution to that so they would rather just not talk about it. I'm going to check out this week what else I can find on this issue and report to you as soon as I find something out.


Finally, the only other big news that have revolved around Poland this week is the blooper that Marta Kaczynska, daughter of former President Lech Kaczynski, has made on a mural that was made in memory of her late father. April 10th is going to mark the one year anniversary of the tragic accident that occurred in Smolensk. This weekend, during a mass a sign was unveiled by Marta Kaczynski that would honor not only her father but also all the casualties from the accident. The mistake wasn't that huge, but the word Ziemia (Earth in Polish) had been misspelled "Ziemii" by the author of the artpiece. While this is an embarrassing moment for the people organizing the event, the bloop was quickly fixed and is now spelled correctly.

With more leading up to the formal events that will be occurring next weekend I'll keep you updated throughout the week. Have a good week, and Go Brewers!