Russia Reported To UEFA Over Colossal ‘This Is Russia’ Banner Unfurled Against Poland In Warsaw

Chris Wright

13th, June 2012

23 Comments

By Chris Wright

Those as ignorant as I may have found themselves rendered aghast by the sheer scale of the massive banner unfurled by the Russian fans during last night’s game against Poland in a ‘how the hell did they get that through the turnstiles’ kind of way.

However, racism monitoring group ‘Football Against Racism in Europe’ (FARE) reckon that it was all a little more insidious under the surface and even reported the flag to UEFA before the match – alerting them to ‘far-right extremist’ sloganeering.

Indeed, the Polish press are reporting that UEFA may fine the Russian FA over banner, with suggestions that it depicts Dmitry Pozharsky – a 17th century military commander who led Russia against a Polish invasion in the early 1600s.

UEFA have since confirmed that they are to launch an investigation into the banner, though it’s at the back of an ever-lengthening queue; behind the monkey chants aimed at Dutch players, Mario Balotelli and Czech right-back Theo Gebre Selassie and the 183 arrests made after Russian fans brawled with Polish fans after the game in Warsaw last night.

Posted in Euro 2012, FAIL

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23 Comments

  1. Joe says:

    I like how they are getting annoyed because they think it depicts this “Dmitry Pozharsky” but when English fans wear knight outfits its okay haha

  2. Derek says:

    Did anyone look at the banner? It shows a Red Devil with a blood dripping bayonet and the words “This is Russia”. Obviously it is a Polish inspired banner accusing Russia of war crimes. Why would anyone report that it was Russian fans that displayed this offensive banner? No, This was obviously sanctioned by the Poland FA and the Polish authorities as an insult to the Russian team. Poland should be kicked out of the Cup, all games moved to Ukraine.

  3. Toz says:

    As a Pole, I’m going to say this; I’m absolutely embarrassed by the fact that the the right-wing media in Poland has made this into some sort of attack on Poland. I’m also absolutely embarrassed about the penchant Russophobia which has reared it’s ugly head, or the incredibly moronic fans which took to the street last night to fight against Russian fans. There are idiots on both sides of the divide, and we’re not better than anyone else.

    This banner may be stupid, but we’ve embarrassed ourselves enough. No need for more.

  4. KKK says:

    All these incidents are making Luis Suarez look like a choir boy.

  5. JP says:

    Toz, ignorant people come in all shapes, sizes, race and creeds. Just keep representing your country well and you have nothing to worry about my friend. Intelligent, cultured people realize that a few bad apples should never spoil the bunch and in all honesty, most of us just want to see some great football. Which we have! Cracker of a goal by your man Kuba last night!

    And I recently read about the situation regarding his upbringing/murder of his mother. Absolutely shocking but it seems he has channeled his heartache marvelously.

  6. marcia says:

    As an “ugly” American, I think the Russian fans were wrong! Wearing your team’s kit or country’s colors, banners, flag etc. is fine and shows how proud you are but as a GUEST in someone else’s country, these fans were rude and obnoxious! These were NOT just a FEW idiots…this was a HUGE sign!

  7. Leens says:

    Anyone with even a minimum knowledge of Polish history (I mean fairly recent 20th Century history i.e. remember Communism or “invasion of eastern sovereign states”?) will understand how outrageous and offensive this banner is. If you don’t know or can’t be bothered checking it, I’ll give you an idea: imagine Iraqi fans holding a giant banner during a tournament in Kuwait declaring: “This is Iraq”. Unacceptable. I’m not even Polish but I’m sympathetic. And I’ve no idea on a practical level how they managed to get it in the staium in the first place…

  8. roman says:

    Leens has it right. This banner was extremely offensive and disrespectful to Polish fans. The only comparison I could think of was if Nazi’s marched and displayed their symbols in a Jewish neighborhood. So typical of Russians…

  9. Bill says:

    this is being taken way way out of context if you ask me..Is the warrior depicted suggesting killing Poles? or is it fans displaying pride in the russian warrior class? you can take this a thousand ways but than again uefa is trying to breed this grey area out of the sport..

  10. Yalla says:

    To compare this to nazis displaying their symbols to Jews is ridiculous. I know someone is gonna respons with propaganda about what brutes the Russians have been against the Poles for centuries (even if there wasn’t even a Poland or a Russia 200 years ago), but that’s just what it is – propaganda. Back in the day expansionist warfare was common and the poles happened to be close enough to Russia to be ruled by them and not powerful enough to stand against them. In a reverse situation they would have done the exact same thing. Can’t really say the same thing about Jews and Nazis.

    It’s a provocation, but nothing extraordinary.

  11. Matt says:

    Why is it in English?

  12. Maja says:

    Thank you for many nice words. As a Polish I understand how awful Polish people feld seeing many “wrong” flags. Polish authorities said the russians promesed not to bring anything that will provoke Polish people. They lied…
    Russianshad old Soviet symbols with hammer and sickle etc
    As for the huge banner with Dmitry Pozharsky…this has connection with banned history “Hołd Szujskich” 1611 about Poland.
    Jan Matejko a Polish painter has famous painting “Russian Tsar Vasili IV compelled to knee before Polish King Sigismund III Vasa at Sejm in Warsaw”. There is a long and bitter history between Poland and Russia, replete with centuries of invasions, oppression and massacres. Plus there is the Smolensk crash…

  13. Maja says:

    We talking about 20 th century.
    The hammer & sickle, which is the symbol for the worst communist regimes. Thousand of Poles end up in Stalin Gulag etc.
    Anyone who is interested, there is a lot about it online. The movie “The Way Back” is about it.
    I recommend also “Rape during the liberation of Poland” about Soviet troops raping women & “Soviet war crimes”.

  14. lfc_man says:

    I thought it was a play on “This is Sparta” from the movie “300”.

  15. Jamie says:

    Does anyone know how it got in?

  16. Vladimir says:

    What factory manufactured the giant banner?

  17. Beaumain says:

    Frank Miller laughs at such articles. Russian fans simply quoted the film 300, which is popular in Russia. But, wait, say the media, they’re evil kgb-vodka-mafia-barbarians, they can’t be familiar with Interntet memes and Hollywood films, of course they claim the world!

  18. pip says:

    Pozarski was a Prince who led Russia’s struggle for independence against Polish invasion, so the Russian fans saying “no to politics and history” were doing something a little bit different..

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