Euro 2012 starts under racism cloud

08 June 2012 19:47

Euro 2012 began on Friday, with Poland's 1-1 draw with Greece as eventful as the tournament's turbulent build-up, as both sides were reduced to 10 men and the host's reserve goalkeeper saved a penalty with his first touch.

Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski gave coach Franciszek Smuda the perfect start in the 16th minute, getting on the end of a cross from skipper Jakub Blaszczykowski and placing a well-controlled header past goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias.

But Greece, reduced to 10 men after Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off for a second bookable offence shortly before half-time, levelled just after the break as subsitute Dimitris Salpingidis converted a loose ball in the Polish penalty area.

The Poles then had Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny sent off for bringing down Salpingidis in the box but replacement Przemyslaw Tyton, of PSV Eindhoven, dived left to keep out Greek skipper Giorgos Karagounis' resulting spot-kick.

The scoreline dampened the mood for the 50,000 home fans at the ground and the tens of thousands more outside, with Warsaw a sea of Polish red and white for the arrival of the showpiece event behind the former Iron Curtain for the first time.

Ukraine will co-host the event with the Poles.

Holders and world champions Spain are favourites to retain the title, although perennial challengers Germany are out to avenge their final defeat from four years ago.

But the final crescendo to the opening ceremony -- a pageant of music and dance celebrating both host countries' rich heritage -- was overshadowed by claims that fans racially abused the Netherlands team during a training session on Wednesday.

Dutch skipper Mark van Bommel said in an interview published in De Telegraaf newspaper that the Oranje were forced to train away from the 25,000 fans who had turned up to watch in Krakow, southern Poland.

"We all heard the monkey chants," he was quoted as saying. "We can't accept that. We reacted well and the situation was sorted.

"During the tournament, if any one of us is confronted with such a thing, we'll immediately go to the referee to ask him to intervene," added van Bommel, who faces Denmark with his team-mates in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday.

Van Bommel's comments come despite a senior UEFA official previously denying there had been any racist chants and an angry response to a BBC programme last month which claimed far-right gangs were rife in Polish and Ukrainian football.

The documentary showed footage of some supporters making Nazi salutes and monkey chants at black players, as well as anti-Semitism and a violent assault on a group of Asian students.

Poland, Ukraine and UEFA president Michel Platini have all tried to play down fears of racist incidents, which prompted the families of two black England players to say they would not be travelling to watch the tournament.

"It's easy to point the finger at Ukraine and Poland for racism but all countries are faced with the same problem," Platini told reporters in Warsaw on Wednesday.

"We've done a lot of things but it (racism) is not a football problem, it's a social problem."

UEFA said on Friday that it was now aware of racist incidents, although it had not received any formal complaint from the Dutch football federation.

"Should such behaviour happen at further training sessions, UEFA would evaluate the operational measures to be taken to protect the players," it warned in a statement, without elaborating.

The Poland-Greece opener in Group A was the first of 31 games in eight venues in the two eastern European nations, with the final to be played in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev on July 1.

Russia take on the Czech Republic at 1845 GMT in Wroclaw, western Poland.

Source: AFP