Silesians Want Autonomy

We, the Nation

An interesting thing happened during a recent Ruch Chorzów football match. A section of  fans hung a large flag over the fencing of part of the Chorzów stadium. The flag created such a stir that the Polish Football Association (PZPN) decided to ban this flag from being hung at future Chorzów games. What could possibly have infuriated the officials at the PZPN to have made them take such a drastic decision? Did the flag use abusive language? Racist language? Did the flag incite violence? None of the above. Quite simply, the flag was in German.

Huliganeria Oberschlesien

It’s not unusual for Ruch Chorzów fans, like most fans around the world, to fly various flags proclaiming their excellence and superiority above all other fans. No surprise there. However, Chorzów fans also have a propensity for declaring their nationality. A conspicuous section of Ruch fans often make it clear they are Silesians, that they belong to a Silesian nation. The PZPN has never previously got involved in the Silesian flag-waving of these fans. But the straw that broke the PZPN’s camel’s back was the use of the German word “Oberschlesien” (Upper Silesia).

Republic of Upper Silesia?

Obviously, Ruch Chorzów fans have been quick to protest against the ban. They believe it contravenes the constitutional right of minorities to use their own language (Silesian is a Polish dialect interspersed with German). Those who uphold the ban are quick to point out the roots of Ruch Chorzów: a Polish football team which supported Poland in the Upper Silesian plebiscites in the inter-war period and supported a Polish Silesia. They believe the “Huliganeria Oberschlesien” are trying to do away with the club’s traditions. Many older Ruch fans are downright disgusted with the flag and the idea that certain followers of Chorzów could even think of associating themselves with something as abominable as German or German Silesia. During the plebiscite and WWII, the German aggressors and occupants often adorned buildings and walls with “Oberschlesien” to highlight what they believed to be Silesia’s ‘Germanness’.

Schliesen - Back in the News

The other side to the story is just as fascinating (and complicated). The Ruch Chorzów fans responsible for the flag as well as those aligned with the idea of being ‘Silesian’ believe it to be a mark of their distinctness from other fans and other parts of Poland. Internet fora have been flooded with messages from Silesians claiming that Poles are racist, bigoted and intolerant and are not giving Silesians the right to be heard. It is interesting how what might appear to be a simple sporting discussion has turned into a discussion on political self-determination, perhaps even independence. The Silesian Autonomy Movement has also been quick to react and ‘go political’ turning the situation into a Tony Harrison-like ‘Them & [uz]‘ battle. The question, however, is whether this really is a them-against-us fight…

Oberschlesien. Ta flaga powinna wisieć czy nie? – zdjęcie

Monkeys, Jews and Poles

The Culture of Fandom

What do monkeys, Jews and Poles have in common? Very little actually but go to any Polish football ground and you’ll hear hundreds of hooligans making disgusting monkey gestures at any black players on the pitch and shouting a whole variety of Jewish insults at the players of the opposing team. With the whole of Europe working towards stamping out racism, Polish football has become somewhat of an anachronism.

Institutional Racism
An unbelievable racism-related story hit the Polish headlines this week. The Prosecutor’s Office in Kraków-Krowodrzy decided to throw out a case filed by the local Jewish community. During the Kraków derby (Cracovia Kraków vs. Wisła Kraków) Cracovia fans made monkey gestures at Wisła’s Brazilian-born Cleber. Wisła fans, on the other, shouted “to the gas chamber” at Cracovia’s Maciej Łuczak as well as “f##king Jews” and the suchlike at Cracovia’s other players and fans. The justification for throwing out this (obvious) case (of racism and anti-Semitism) was the police’s inability to stop these racist and anti-Semitic chants. What is more, Prosecutor Dorota Kuk-Turek astonishingly claimed that these racist and anti-Semitic chants “were not criminal in character”.

Football Phantom

Historical Reason
It gets better. Kuk-Turek outdid herself by claiming that there are historical reasons for the anti-Semitic chants of the Wisła supporters and said that the antagonisms between the two Kraków teams reach back to 1906 because Wisła had always been traditionally “Catholic” and Cracovia traditionally “Jewish”. She continued, saying that Cracovia’s best players had traditionally been “of Jewish extraction” whereas Wisła had traditionally never taken on “non-Catholic” players. These stereotypes, she claimed, have survived until today.

Criminal Innocence
Seemingly unaware of how ridiculous her reasoning might be to the rest of the civilised world, Kuk-Turek went on in her justification to say that the crime of inflaming racial hatred and racial abuse is premeditated in nature. She was not able to ascertain whether the racist and anti-Semitic chants committed by the hooligans were premeditated or necessarily targeted at a particular race in which case they were not a crime. She also dug herself another hole by ridiculously claiming that the anti-Semitic chants were not targeted at the Jewish nation but rather a particular player of the opposing team. Kuk-Turek’s decision is causing controversy in the media but the questions beg: why is this woman still working in the legal profession? Why isn’t someone doing something about this?

Time’s Up for Beenhakker

On His Way Out?

After Poland’s dreadful 3:2 defeat to Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, the clouds are gathering around Poland’s Dutch manager Leo Beenhakker and the future looks dim for the former Feyenoord coach.

Polish Roulette
It was always going to be a gamble for the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and the appointment of Beenhakker looked to be a wise choice when Poland qualified for the European Championships for the first time ever. But the cracks appeared when Poland went through the whole tournament without registering a single win together with a host of poor performances. Now the gamble looks to have completely back-fired.

Polish Trend
In group 3 of the World Cup Qualifying group Poland are fifth, one spot above minnows San Marino who prop up the group. Poland’s performances have been significantly under-par in recent games and looking at their games from the start of the qualifiers, it is easy to see the trend: Poland are playing worse, and getting worse, with every game. In such a tight group, chances of qualification for the World Cup in South Africa look slim.

Polish Style
What the majority of Polish football fans are annoyed about is the style of football being played. The national team are lacklustre and slow. They look confused and tired. Performances lack passion and energy. There is no heart and more importantly, there seems to be no talent. The remarkable 3:2 victory over Portugal which Beenhakker masterminded in the qualification for the European Championships is like a distant dream fading with every game.

Dutch Courage
Thankfully, the PZPN has several options. The simplest two are to stay patient and keep with Beenhakker. The other is to sack the Dutchman and begin anew, give the players a fresh start. Of course, the PZPN can also decide to re-structure and set up a system by which the national coach is but one element in the whole footballing machine, not the be all and end all. What Poland does not need now is a revolution, however, Polish football does need a change.

Another Kick in the Balls

Football Dissociation

“We don’t need no recreation, we don’t need no sports control”. This could well be the war-cry of the Polish Football Association (PZPN). Realistically speaking, Poland’s footballing governing body has been on a slow slide ever since the fall of communism in 1989. Jerzy Domański took the helm in 1989, then legendary Poland manager Kazimierz Górski took over, followed by infamous Marian Dziurowicz’s ill-fated term of office (which coincided with a quantum leap in corruption).

The Listkiewicz Years
Since 1999 there has been one President, Michał Listkiewicz, and a record number of four caretaker/custodians who have been drafted in by the government due to legal irregularities, most recently at the beginning of October. For almost a decade this bloated, bureaucratic beast seems to have been on the verge of exploding. The post-communist corruption ‘paradise’ made it easy for players, managers, referees, club owners and PZPN officials to take part in the free-for-all bribery fest that took on gargantuan proportions in the Listkiewicz years.

Taming the Beast
Michał Listkiewicz, however, cannot be entirely blamed for the malaise now threatening to bring the PZPN down. He has simply been unable to control, shackle and tame this wild monster. Despite numerous referees, players, and even clubs being fined, imprisoned, penalised and banned, the grotesque footballing chimera that is the PZPN is still on the loose and in its current form will probably never be tamed.

The End is Nigh
The recent news that the Tax Office has filed for the PZPN’s bank accounts to be blocked due to the non-payment of over 18.5 million in taxes may be the monster’s death knell. Once the accounts are blocked and the money is cut, the PZPN well may begin to wither as its life blood is slowly sapped away. Unlike UEFA and FIFA, most of the Polish population is on the side of the government and wants football to be cleaned up. Perhaps now, bankrupt and shattered, the PZPN will finally give up the ghost and make way for people who actually want to help football in Poland.

Bubble Bursts

Played 3, lost 2, drawn 1, scored 1, conceded 4. This Polish team was simply woeful and perhaps the worst team of the tournament. Poland lost 0-1 to Croatia who after qualifying for the next round decided to rest practically their whole team and play a reserve side. However, Croatia’s reserve side outplayed and outclassed a dreadful Polish side that simply did nothing.

Why?
40 million or so Polish people were convinced that the national side would be able to put up a good performance against Germany, beat Austria and grind out a decent result against Croatia. But why? Why was the whole of Poland so convinced this would happen when reality demonstrated to us that Poland were never up to the task. In fact, the Poland that turned out at Euro 2008 looked a far worst team than the one at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The reason for this misplaced optimism arose from the now historic victory against Portugal in the qualifiers. The sad truth, however, is that Poland never actually looked a good team and that one victory against Portugal seemed to spur the Poles on and believe in something no more than a pipe dream.

Success in Failure
The much-maligned, tainted and corrupt Polish Football Association (PZPN) needs to have a long, hard look at itself. On the backdrop of what has been going on in Polish football in recent years – corruption, dodgy refereeing, bizarre decisions by the PZPN regarding promotions and relegations (with rules changes every year and sometimes even mid-season) – then the Polish national side have done unbelievably well. In fact, their success in the qualifiers is unprecedented when compared to the quality of domestic football and respect has to go to Dutch coach Beenhakker for his work on and off the field.

Quo Vadis, Polonia?
It would be foolish to sack Beenhakker because, as I’ve mentioned, Poland were never going to pull up trees and suddenly become world beaters. They simply didn’t have the quality, speed, guile, passion or know-how to win a game. This will be particularly worrying and personally deflating for Leo who now completes his THIRD international tournament without winning a single game. But Poland can take heart from the fact that they did qualify for this tournament in the first place, they are hosting the next Euro tournament and they have, in their goalkeeper Artur Boruc, a player who will no doubt go on to greater things and, God willing, will be a shining light for Polish football for the next ten years or so.

Fizzled Out… Again

Warsaw city centre was an interesting place to be last night. After another lacklustre performance of excruciatingly bad proportions which saw Poland get a draw against hosts Austria, the denizens of Warsaw were surprisingly chirpy singing “Nothing’s happened, nothing’s happened, we still love you Poland”. The 1-1 draw effectively spells the end of the line for both teams as fellow group members Croatia and Germany look likely to progress into the next round.

Battered Defences
Poland were dismal in the first half which saw an eager Austria encamped in Poland’s half, battering Polish defences like an irate storm. Poland have goalkeeper Artur Boruc to thank that they didn’t go into half-time 3-0 or 4-0 down. As it happens, they did have Boruc, as well as lucky charm Roger Guerrero who popped up like a Brazilian magician to bag Poland’s first ever goal at the European Championships. Poland went into the break leading 1-0 but never truly deserved it.

Second Half Woes
Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker no doubt gave his players a roasting at half-time and the Poles came out looking more value for their money but Austria were hardly going to give up. Both teams had their chances but every Polish fan would admit that Poland have not yet turned up for the tournament and look a sorry shadow of the team that qualified for the Championships. Ebi Smolarek, Dariusz Dudka and Mariusz Lewandowski who have been so influential in previous games looked lost and ill at ease with the ball. It was end-to-end stuff but both teams looked feeble.

Kick in the Balls
With 90 minutes on the clock Poland looked to have secured a surprise victory but when evil English referee Howard Webb awarded a highly spurious penalty to Austria in the 93rd minute 40 million Polish hearts sunk. Goodness knows what he was thinking and it was without doubt one of the poorest decisions Webb has made in his footballing career, but that is the stuff football is made of and Poland can hardly blame the referee for a terrible performance throughout.

Bye Bye Leo?
The worry now is that the Polish Football Association (PZPN) will make a knee-jerk decision and sack Leo Beenhakker for a pretty dreadful showing at Euro2008, although I think it more likely that Beenhakker will resign. That would spell disaster for the Polish side which has recently managed to pick itself up, dust itself down and begin to play with a better mentality despite Euro2008. On the other hand, Leo Beenhakker is still the only manager at Euro2008 NEVER to have won a game during either the World Cup or European Championships.

Fizzled Out

After all the hype, glitz and talk of victory, Poland’s players served up one of their most lacklustre performances in recent years. In fact, probably one of their worst performances since Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker took over the helm becoming Poland’s first ever foreign manager.

Euro Début
Poland lost 0-2 to Germany who overwhelmed, outplayed and outmanoeuvred Poland on every front. Before hand, the Polish press, the players and Beenhakker himself had played up the possibilities and potential of Poland’s football team saying that Poland’s début in the European Championships will see Poland break their duck and finally manage to beat Germany.

Look No Stars
Unfortunately (for Poland), nothing could be farther from the truth. Poland’s key players – Ebi Smolarek, Maciej Żurawski and Jacek Krzynówek – showed none of the skills that have made them so reliable in recent years. The Polish team simply didn’t turn up and were nothing like the team that had beat Portugal 3-2 in the Euro Qualifiers. But in all truth, it was Germany, or to be more precise Lukas (Łukasz) Podolski, who really shined.

Polish-born Winner
Podolski scored two and ran the show for the Germans. Ironically, Łukasz was born in Gliwice, in Poland and is one of three Polish players in the team (also Mirosław Klose and Piotr Trochowski) and his muted celebrations were well received by Polish fans who realised that Łukasz, by his own admission, had quite a dilemma on his hands playing against the country of his birth. He was also the only German player to swap shirts with a Polish player and actually put on the Polish shirt. He was also the only (Polish) player to give an interview to the Polish press straight after the game – the Polish captain refused.

Team Spirit?
Whether Poland manages to beat Austria and Croatia and progress to the next round is all in the hands of this crop of players and Leo Beenhakker but it seems that the team was already doomed before the kick off. Kuba Błaszczykowski, a key player, is thought to have had a tiff with Beenhakker regarding his fitness. The manager believed Błaszczykowski was a risk, Kuba disagreed and left the squad. Also, reserve keeper Tomasz Kuszczak returned home with an injury.

Tough Time
The feeling from within the Polish camp is that something is not right. If Poland are to finally do something, make a mark on European football (as their long-suffering fans hope), they will need to finally pull their finger out and show some mettle against hosts Austria and dark horses Croatia. Dream team? I think not. Well, at least Robert Kubica won the Grand Prix…

Racism in Poland

It is with great sadness that I present to you all a short 15-minute special report put together by the BBC concerning racism in Poland.

BBC Inside Sport – Racism in Poland

Let’s hope everyone pulls together and does something about this. I’m appealing to everyone out there – football fans, politicians, whoever, let’s do something about this!

Footy in Africa

The Euro qualifiers have just come to an end and one might think that enough is enough, let’s take a rest from football and do something a little more interesting instead.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Football is a wonderful beast and has the ability to unite, divide, uplift and destroy. Witness the mass depression in England and the mass euphoria in Poland.

The great thing about footy is that it puts everything in context. War, politics, famine, drought all pale into insignificance when there are 22 young men kicking a ball around a park. Pretty strong stuff.

Euro 2008 takes place next year but all eyes have already turned to what will be the most exotic World Cup to date, in South Africa. The draw for the European qualifiers will certainly bring some spice into our lives:

Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta
Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg
Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, N. Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino
Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein
Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia
Group 6 Croatia, England, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra
Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands
Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro
Group 9 Holland, Scotland, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland

Sweden will clash with Scandy buddies Denmark, Group 3 will be the clash of the Slavs with Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia battling it out. Will England once again lose to the Croatians? This group will also see an Eastern Slavonic battle between Belarus and Ukraine.

Oh the joy of footy…

Poland and Ukraine Transformed

I usually update my blog once a week but I couldn’t wait. I really couldn’t wait. I was told the news that at approximately 10:57 British time, Michel Platini announced that Poland and Ukraine will be hosting the European Championships in 2012. I am over the moon, ecstatic. There are many reasons for my euphoria and for the euphoria of 85 million people in these two countries and I wonder if European football’s ruling body UEFA really knows what it has done. The positives that will flow from this decision are immense. They truly are ground-breaking, earth-shattering and momentous in every sense of these words.

Firstly, it will bring a smile to the faces of the citizens of two countries that have not had much to smile about in recent years. In both Poland and Ukraine we have two countries, albeit at different stages of political growth, struggling with their (relatively) newly-found sense of freedom. Poland is belatedly dealing with a post-communist backlash, Ukraine is trying its utmost to deal with the responsibilities that go with being a democratic state. Life has been tough for many years, but the smiles and tears of joy that I saw in Warsaw today were something I will remember for a long, long time.

Secondly, it will give these two Slavonic states an almighty kick up the backside. Poland and Ukraine need to improve their infrastructure, build stadia and gentrify their inner cities. Ministers of both nations have already pledged funds for the building of new roads, highways and arenas. In fact, a mere hour after the announcement, Poland’s Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska pledged PLN 1 billion to help fund the transformation of the former Stadion X-lecie, currently Europe’s biggest open-air market, into one of the most modern sporting arenas in Europe, the National Stadium of Poland.

Thirdly, the fact that Poland and Ukraine won this bid has suddenly created a wave of solidarity across the much-divided political stage in both states. Suddenly, members of the Left Democratic Alliance (SLD) including their leader Wojciech Olejniczak, sworn enemies of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, have open come out to heap praise on the President of Poland (former PiS leader) who went to Cardiff to support the joint bid. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko also made the visit to the Welsh capital. The support he was given by allies of Viktor Yanukovych may have been less eager, but the fact that it was there is truly astonishing.

Finally, and most importantly, the organisation of Euro 2012 will do more for Polish-Ukrainian relations than any politician, any political party or any other event in the entire history of the two nations has ever done. Although there is a lot of common history shared by these two proud nations, there is also a great deal of bad blood. In fact, my grandmother lived to tell me of the ongoing Polish-Ukrainian skirmishes of her childhood and of the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919. As much as the politicians, sectarians and partisans strove to shore up nationalist fervour against the other nation, the people themselves lived side-by-side for hundreds of years in places like Lviv, Tarnopol or Kiev to name a few. The area formerly known as Galicja-Wołyń was interspersed with Polish-Ukrainian villages where people of both nationalities (as well as the Hutsuls, Boykos and Lemkos) lived in peace and harmony.

Several wars, partitions, loss of independence, over-bearing neighbours and communism have done much to erode what was once a beautifully cosmopolitan corner of Europe. Hopefully, this great sporting event will allow Poland and Ukraine to work together on something that will have a longer-lasting legacy than any treaty could ever offer. The idea of building communication networks, lines of transportation and economic ties between these two countries just for the sake of a small white ball, I believe, is one of the most noble concepts I have ever come across in my love of the history of these two countries. This truly is a great day to be a European.