What We're Reading
Walcott family will boycott Euros over racism fears
- AFP, Thursday, May 17, 2012 1:28 PM
The family of England international Theo Walcott have vowed not to travel to Euro 2012 after voicing fears they may be targeted for racist abuse by hooligans
in Ukraine.
Walcott's brother Ashley revealed on Twitter that he and his father Don would not be following
England during their group matches in Kiev and Donetsk next month because of concerns for their safety. "Unfortunately my dad and I have taken the decision not to travel to the Ukraine because of the
fear of possible racist attacks confrontations (sic) ..." Ashley Walcott wrote.
On Wednesday, England manager Roy Hodgson voiced concern that fans may be subjected to racist attacks in
Ukraine, as he discussed the inclusion of John Terry in his squad, who himself is facing a court case for alleged racial abuse. "There's no doubt that the issue
of racism, and the Sky report into hooliganism, and the violence in the Ukraine is obviously a concern to us all I would think, not least of all the supporters who are going to go over there and maybe
risk getting beaten up if they don't happen to be white," Hodgson said.
Hodgson's comments came after a Sky Television report earlier this week which said Ukrainian neo-Nazis in Donetsk
were planning to target black and Asian England supporters at next month's finals. Rafal Pankowski, head of the regional monitoring arm of Football Against Racism in Europe,
acknowledged that there was an issue across the continent. "Racism is a pan-European problem and in East European stadiums it sometimes expresses itself in graphic ways," he told AFP.
