STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Sopranos fanatics, this one is for you. Tony Soprano's autographed Suburban is available for purchase on eBayTM. James Gandolfini has personally signed the vehicle. Find this and over 800 other Sopranos items for sale on eBay. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In a message dated 17/07/01 09:13:17 Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << Subj: Polish FA President Declares War on Anti-Racist Organisation Date: 17/07/01 09:13:17 Eastern Daylight Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (MINERES moderator) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]";>[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: MINELRES moderator <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Original sender: Rafal Pankowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Polish FA President Declares War on Anti-Racist Organisation 14 July 2001 PRESS RELEASE POLISH FA PRESIDENT DECLARES WAR ON ANTI-RACIST ORGANISATION The Extraordinary Congress of the International Footbal Federation (FIFA) held in Buenos Aires on 6-7 July called upon national football associations to join the struggle against racism and to work with non-governemental organisations. The president of the Polish FA returned from the Congress and started fighting: not against racism but against an anti-racist organisation. FIFA had invited members of independent anti-racist groups working together under the aegis of Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) to share their experiences of campaigning against xenophobia in sports. Among others, Jolanta Skubiszewska, a representative of the Polish 'Never Again' Association, described the situation in Poland. Anti-Semitic slogans and neo-fascist symbols at stadiums as well as occurences of racial abuse against Black players were noted. Ms Skubiszewska described anti-racist campaigns initiated by Polish football fans and supported by "Never Again". She said she hoped the Polish sports authorities would increase their efforts to combat racism. The Polish NGO presentation was well received by the audience but it met with a furious reaction of the Polish FA delegation who denied the problem of racism ever existed in Polish football. "How dare you say such things about Poland abroad" - said one member of the delegation to the representative of "Never Again". On his return to Poland, Michal Listkiewicz, the president of the Polish FA called a press conference and subsequently gave a number of interviews to the biggest radio stations and the tabloid press (eg. the 0.5m circulation "Superexpres") in which he referred to the participation of "Never Again" in the FIFA Congress as a "scandal". Listkiewicz said the NGO presentation was "embarassing" and "nobody took it seriously". He called Ms Skubiszewska "a silly girl". He further explained "her only motivation was to show she spoke good English". According to Listkiewicz the representative of "Never Again" had stated "Poland is a racist and anti-Semitic country" and "half of the Poles are anti-Semites and the other half are racists". In fact no such phrases appeared in the speech. [The full text of the presentation made at the FIFA Congress is available form the "Never Again" Association.] Speaking about racist attacks Listkiewicz dismissed them as "not worth any attention". Listkiewicz repeatedly stated that "nobody has ever heard of any organisation under the name Never Again". The "Never Again" Association has been active since the early 1990s and it has been featured in numerous tv and radio programmes and press articles. Since 1994 the "Never Again" magazine has been published as a source of information on racism and the extreme right. The activities of "Never Again" have been valued highly by, among others, Simon Wiesenthal. The anti-racist sport campaign run by "Never Again" is supported by fan groups, sport journalists, and players. "Never Again" is a founding-member of Football Against Racism in Europe and it has been involved in the Ad Hoc Working Group on Racism in Sport of the Council of Europe. "It is a pity Mr Listkiewicz is spending his time and energy on fighting our organisation. I believe he'd better spend his time fighting racism in football" - said Marcin Kornak, the chairman of the "Never Again" Association. If you would like to express your disapproval of the slander campaign of the Polish FA and solidarity with the "Never Again" Association you can write to: Mr Michal Listkiewicz [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] , fax +48 22 827 0704, 827 1674 with a copy to the "Never Again" Association [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information contact Rafal Pankowski [EMAIL PROTECTED], phone +48 603 647228. Web sites of interest: www.nigdywiecej1.px.pl www.farenet.org www.fifa.com Rafal Pankowski Stowarzyszenie 'Nigdy Wiecej'/'Never Again' Association PO Box 6 03-700 Warszawa 4 Poland http://www.nigdywiecej1.px.pl -- ============================================================== MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern Europe >> ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: MINELRES moderator <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Original sender: Rafal Pankowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Polish FA President Declares War on Anti-Racist Organisation 14 July 2001 PRESS RELEASE POLISH FA PRESIDENT DECLARES WAR ON ANTI-RACIST ORGANISATION The Extraordinary Congress of the International Footbal Federation (FIFA) held in Buenos Aires on 6-7 July called upon national football associations to join the struggle against racism and to work with non-governemental organisations. The president of the Polish FA returned from the Congress and started fighting: not against racism but against an anti-racist organisation. FIFA had invited members of independent anti-racist groups working together under the aegis of Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) to share their experiences of campaigning against xenophobia in sports. Among others, Jolanta Skubiszewska, a representative of the Polish 'Never Again' Association, described the situation in Poland. Anti-Semitic slogans and neo-fascist symbols at stadiums as well as occurences of racial abuse against Black players were noted. Ms Skubiszewska described anti-racist campaigns initiated by Polish football fans and supported by "Never Again". She said she hoped the Polish sports authorities would increase their efforts to combat racism. The Polish NGO presentation was well received by the audience but it met with a furious reaction of the Polish FA delegation who denied the problem of racism ever existed in Polish football. "How dare you say such things about Poland abroad" - said one member of the delegation to the representative of "Never Again". On his return to Poland, Michal Listkiewicz, the president of the Polish FA called a press conference and subsequently gave a number of interviews to the biggest radio stations and the tabloid press (eg. the 0.5m circulation "Superexpres") in which he referred to the participation of "Never Again" in the FIFA Congress as a "scandal". Listkiewicz said the NGO presentation was "embarassing" and "nobody took it seriously". He called Ms Skubiszewska "a silly girl". He further explained "her only motivation was to show she spoke good English". According to Listkiewicz the representative of "Never Again" had stated "Poland is a racist and anti-Semitic country" and "half of the Poles are anti-Semites and the other half are racists". In fact no such phrases appeared in the speech. [The full text of the presentation made at the FIFA Congress is available form the "Never Again" Association.] Speaking about racist attacks Listkiewicz dismissed them as "not worth any attention". Listkiewicz repeatedly stated that "nobody has ever heard of any organisation under the name Never Again". The "Never Again" Association has been active since the early 1990s and it has been featured in numerous tv and radio programmes and press articles. Since 1994 the "Never Again" magazine has been published as a source of information on racism and the extreme right. The activities of "Never Again" have been valued highly by, among others, Simon Wiesenthal. The anti-racist sport campaign run by "Never Again" is supported by fan groups, sport journalists, and players. "Never Again" is a founding-member of Football Against Racism in Europe and it has been involved in the Ad Hoc Working Group on Racism in Sport of the Council of Europe. "It is a pity Mr Listkiewicz is spending his time and energy on fighting our organisation. I believe he'd better spend his time fighting racism in football" - said Marcin Kornak, the chairman of the "Never Again" Association. If you would like to express your disapproval of the slander campaign of the Polish FA and solidarity with the "Never Again" Association you can write to: Mr Michal Listkiewicz [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] , fax +48 22 827 0704, 827 1674 with a copy to the "Never Again" Association [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information contact Rafal Pankowski [EMAIL PROTECTED], phone +48 603 647228. Web sites of interest: www.nigdywiecej1.px.pl www.farenet.org www.fifa.com Rafal Pankowski Stowarzyszenie 'Nigdy Wiecej'/'Never Again' Association PO Box 6 03-700 Warszawa 4 Poland http://www.nigdywiecej1.px.pl -- ============================================================== MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern Europe Submissions: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscription/inquiries: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm ==============================================================
