Holland to walk out of Euro 2012 if racially abused during a game

09 June, 2012

In the ongoing Euro 2012 championship there is concern that there could be racist chants and abuses. Such scenes were witnessed when the Dutch football team was practicing when fans started with the..

EVEN BEFORE the Euro 2012 championship has kick started, the championship has already been hit by the racism row. The organisers of the tournament do not want to be known for off-field events, such as the one which took place while the Dutch team were involved in their training session. The Dutch skipper, Mark Van Bommel, was so furious with the turn of events that he even warned UEFA that his team will walk off the field, if they are abused during their game.

In fact, according to reports in telegraph.co.uk, some of the black Dutch players received monkey chants at a stadium in Poland, where they were training. Around 500 fans were said to have chanted the same, while the Dutch were warming up. The site also reported that those people who chanted were Wisla Krakow (a football club) supporters who were showing disappointment that their city had not been chosen as one of the host city.

This incident should act as a necessary alarm to the authorities who are in charge of looking over such issues in the competition. This might not be the last time such kind of incidents would be seen during the championship. But, the good thing is that the UEFA has been very strict regarding racism, and has zero tolerance towards such cases.

Teams such as England, France, and Italy may also become a victim of racism, as they too have a large number of black players in their squad. Poland and Ukraine have a history of racism, which makes UEFA concerned, and it has even directed their referees to stop the game if they witness or hear any player being racially abused.

The UEFA does not want to see such incidents sullying the beautiful game. Some of the recent players incidents got widely reported for racism row, between Luis Suarez and Patrick Evra. It got the whole world talking. This was racism at the club level, but if racism takes place at the international level, it might lead to serious consequences, which might take a political shape too.