Euro 2012: Racism in Ukraine and Poland

I won't be booking any city breaks to Ukraine anytime soon following last Monday's Panorama programme.

If you didn't see it, they were reporting on various racist and neo-Nazi football hooligans in both Poland and Ukraine.

Anyone who follows European football knows that racism in Eastern Europe is a much bigger problem than here in the UK. There's been more focus on the issue leading up to Euro 2012.

In the last few weeks there's been the high profile reporting that the families of mixed race players Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain wouldn't be travelling to Poland and Ukraine due to the dangers of racist attacks.

After watching Panorama's report I don't blame them.




This clip above was shown to former England star Sol Campbell, who shook his head with shock at the scenes and advised black an Asian fans not to bother travelling.

With all this negativity surrounding Ukraine and Poland, why did UEFA award the championships to these countries?

Football's expansion

In awarding the championships to Poland and Ukraine, this was another example of football's expansion into new territories, particularly countries beyond the old Iron Curtain.

Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup.The 2008 Champions league final was held in Moscow and this year's Europa League final between Athletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao took place in Romania.

There's a two way process going on, whereby football's governing bodies are opening the game up to these countries, but at the same time the privilege of holding such international tournaments means those countries have to accept that certain ideals and values have to be embraced.

The racist and xenophobic attitudes that prevail in parts of Eastern Europe have to be tackled if they're going to be allowed to hold international football tournaments like the World Cup and European Championships.

But you have to accept that these countries have totally different political and social histories to the UK and parts of Western Europe; you can't expect them to be on the same page as us when it comes to race relations.

The problem that I can see is that both Ukraine and UEFA haven't demonstrated enough how the problems of racism in Ukrainian society and football are being successfully tackled.


Ukraine hasn't sold its story to the rest of Europe

From Ukraine's point of view, they could do without programmes like the BBC's Panorama being broadcast on the eve of the tournament.

For all the negative stories surrounding football hooligans, racism, and poor ticket sales from foreign fans; I don't think Poland or Ukraine have really sold their story to the rest of Europe.

What do the Euros mean to Ukraine? In Euro 96 there was the 'Football's coming home' theme that dominated the Championship. England's first major tournament since 1966.

In 2008 there was the Beijing Olympics, the chance for China to show the world that it was an emerging global superpower. An opportunity to show the very best China had to offer in a sporting and cultural sense.

Two years later, South Africa held the World Cup. The first time the tournament had been held in Africa. Again this was South Africa's chance to show that after the troubled years of Apartheid, the 'rainbow nation' was now ready to show the world a different side to Africa and South Africa.

What's Ukraine's story?

They've allowed all these negative stories to build up without coming back with their own story or narrative. They haven't explained why the Euro finals are so important for the country or showcased enough the very best that the country has to offer.

There's still time for Ukraine to do something about it. Despite the Panorama programme, I'm used to the media in this country highlighting the worst case scenarios when major sporting events are held outside traditional Western venues. Remember all those negative stories about South Africa in the build up to the 2010 World Cup?

Lets see if Ukraine can change the West's perception over the next month.

Man City win Premier League: Who was writing the script?

What an incredible end to the Premier League season yesterday.

After overturning the eight point advantage Man Utd had over them, you thought the hard work had been done by City. Surely beating a QPR side with the worst away record in the Premier League would be the easy bit.

As the minutes ticked down and QPR still 2-1 up, I kept shaking my head saying 'this is unbelievable' How can City possibly lose the title now.

But this is what makes football so fascinating, as you realised that it didn't matter that City have the best squad of players in the League and were unbeaten at home all season - this is a club with failure written into its very DNA!

As the game entered injury time, I wondered if there could be a more humiliating way to lose the title?

There are moments in football where you realise this is your moment. For City those two goals in the injury time was the moment they were no longer a laughing stock, a team constantly having to live in shadow of Man Utd. Their time had finally arrived.

Despite all the millions spent by the club, I'm glad City won the title. They were the best team this season and it's good for the game in England to have a different team winning the Premier League for the first time.

My feelings may change in a few years, if Man City go on to dominate English football - which is a distinct possibility as nobody can really compete with them financially.

Well done City, I'm pleased for the club and their fans. It was also a great day for the Premier League as well. There's a lot of hype that surrounds Premier League football, but yesterday showed why the Premier League is the most exciting league in the world.

Images of Perugia

For a small provincial town, I ended up taking a lot of photos during my time in Perugia. I've put together this slideshow of some of my favourite photos.



Perugia is beautiful. Looking around at the Medieval architecture, you have to remind yourself that you're still in the 21st Century and not the 13th. Sometimes in Italy you can feel like you're in the middle of a real life living museum, but that's one of the things I love most about the country.

Hello from Perugia

I've escaped the endless rain back in England, to spend a couple of days in the beautiful Italian hilltop town of Perugia.

I'm here for the city's International journalism festival that started last Wednesday and finishes tomorrow. The event's been going since 2006 and allows journalists, aspiring journalists and other media enthusiasts, the opportunity to network and attend a series of talks, workshops and discussions about journalism and its role in society.

The Palazzo dei Priori

I remember hearing about the event earlier in the year. I thought: "that sounds just like the sort of thing a media geek like myself would be into." Since arriving yesterday I've attended some really interesting discussions.

Common themes that have come up include; how can journalism survive in the digital age. Nobody knows how to make real money from the internet and this continues to be the Holy Grail of journalism. Another discussion I went to, looked at the theme of collaboration, and how journalism can get audiences more involved in reporting stories.

In between attending these discussions, I've had a chance to explore Perugia. It's not a big place, but I have to say It's stunning. It's perched on top of a hill overlooking the Umbrian countryside, the views are amazing. It's reminded me why I love Italy.

View from the city

I've traveled all over Italy, north of Rome and I think Perugia is one of those places that's a bit under the radar. What I mean is that when you think of visiting Italy, Perugia isn't somewhere you immediately think of going.

I'd still recommend it to anyone looking for a short weekend break, or a place to stop off at while travelling around Italy.

The centre of Perugia

The shrinking of the web

Last week it was announced that Facebook was buying the smart phone sharing app Instagram for a staggering $1,000,000,000 (£630m).

On the face of it, it looks like another buyout of a start up web company that although hugely popular doesn't actually make any money.

In the last few days, I've been reading about the various reasons why Facebook would want to spend so much on a small app.

One theme that's been interesting me, is the idea that Facebook's buyout is another example of big media corporations and governments trying to gain greater control of the web.

I read an article in today's Sunday Times that argued that tech giants like Facebook, Google, Apple and Yahoo want to buy up popular apps, so they can all be gathered into one space under their control.

All this is interesting as more people are accessing the internet through apps on smart phone or iPads, rather than using web browsers like Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.

In theory it could mean more content and information will become unavailable if you look for it on the web or through search engines. You'll only be able to access apps, social media and other content through a gate controlled by the big tech companies.

It looks like more people are becoming concerned at developments.

Today I was reading about how Google's Co-founder Sergey Brin was warning about the threats to an open internet from governments and corporations. But then I thought, aren't Google one of those major corporations that are looking to monopolise the web themselves.

It seems more like Google finding itself in a power struggle with Facebook. Google's power and influence as a Search Engine will decline if more people navigate the web through social media rather than search engines.

This week the Guardian are running a week long investigation into the battle for control of the web.

You begin to realise how revolutionary the internet is and how different interest groups around the world have their own reasons to try and control and manage access to the web.

With good timing I'm just about to start reading a book called The Master Switch by Tim Wu. The book explorers this issue further, arguing that the internet is the latest in a long line of communication technologies that started off as free and open before becoming centralized and closed through corporate power.

I shall let you know what I think of it when I finish.