Red Tape Hot Box on Football
Well, our Italian supporter was, of course, wrong. The biggest national stadium in Warsaw is actually used, and you can find almost anything you want there... except for football, that is. This paradoxical situation is unfortunately still the case today. The black-market on this stadium continues to grow while the Ministry of Sports still can't decide where to build a new stadium... that would only be used for football.
But it's not just a question of building a new national stadium. It's also a question of modernizing the small grounds used for Polish league and international matches. Most are old, small and, worst of all, unsafe.
For this reason, come Saturday, most real football fans are to be found glued to their TV screens, if they can afford Canal+ that is, rather than at football grounds watching their favorite team. I remember that at one Warsaw derby, each ticketholder got a free T-shirt with "Safe stadium" written on the back of it. Though the sad truth is that these T-shirts only really came in useful as bandages for those injured in the rioting.
In Poland, the standard of professional football seems to be decreasing all the time, while the gangs of "professional" hooligan are going from strength to strength. As each year goes by, they are becoming increasingly organized and better equipped in weapons.
I know that gangs of hooligans also exist in Western Europe. However, the difference there is that if they do fight, it is never at the stadiums, which means that it is safe to watch live games there.
This is all thanks to the installation of monitoring systems that can immediately spot those involved in the fights. Penalties are so high that people think twice before getting themselves involved in a spot of rioting. The same is true at many other stadiums across Europe. After all, apart from the sporting spirit, football is also a very profitable business.
Nevertheless, the game must above all be safe because no sponsor or company would ever want to have its products identified with violence. Moreover, if we want the Polish team to be as strong as it was in the 70s, it's high time to start upgrading and modernizing our football stadiums. Once these two issues have been taken care of, there is a chance that Poland might finally be able to rejoin the ranks of Europe's footballing elite...
But it's not just a question of building a new national stadium. It's also a question of modernizing the small grounds used for Polish league and international matches. Most are old, small and, worst of all, unsafe.
For this reason, come Saturday, most real football fans are to be found glued to their TV screens, if they can afford Canal+ that is, rather than at football grounds watching their favorite team. I remember that at one Warsaw derby, each ticketholder got a free T-shirt with "Safe stadium" written on the back of it. Though the sad truth is that these T-shirts only really came in useful as bandages for those injured in the rioting.
In Poland, the standard of professional football seems to be decreasing all the time, while the gangs of "professional" hooligan are going from strength to strength. As each year goes by, they are becoming increasingly organized and better equipped in weapons.
I know that gangs of hooligans also exist in Western Europe. However, the difference there is that if they do fight, it is never at the stadiums, which means that it is safe to watch live games there.
This is all thanks to the installation of monitoring systems that can immediately spot those involved in the fights. Penalties are so high that people think twice before getting themselves involved in a spot of rioting. The same is true at many other stadiums across Europe. After all, apart from the sporting spirit, football is also a very profitable business.
Nevertheless, the game must above all be safe because no sponsor or company would ever want to have its products identified with violence. Moreover, if we want the Polish team to be as strong as it was in the 70s, it's high time to start upgrading and modernizing our football stadiums. Once these two issues have been taken care of, there is a chance that Poland might finally be able to rejoin the ranks of Europe's footballing elite...
