What to do while in Ukraine

As Europe's biggest footballing tournament kicks off, we ask if the fears of racism in the host nations are justified. Euro 2012 kicked off on Friday. But Europe's biggest footballing event has been overshadowed by accusations of racism in the host nations, Poland and Ukraine. The Dutch team claims that they have already been subjected to racist chants during a training session, with players saying they heard monkey chants coming from the terraces. UEFA denies that the incident was racially motivated. "It has been well documented that there are a lot of issues in Poland and Ukraine and it's not going to be stamped out over one tournament. You have to go right into the grassroots. " - Zesh Rehman, an ambassador for Kick it Out Ukraine says that racism allegations are being used to discredit the country and its Euro 2012 director has insisted that the country does not have a problem with racism. Inside Story  asks if the fears of racism in Pol

Denmark on Saturday pulled off the first major upset of Euro 2012, beating the much-fancied Netherlands 1-0 while Germany beat Portugal by the same scoreline, as the tournament moved to Ukraine for the first time. Michael Krohn-Dehli broke the deadlock for the Danes in the 24th minute, sending both Dutch captain Mark van Bommel and John Heitinga the wrong way and slotting his left-footed shot between goalkeeper  Maarten Stekelenburg 's legs. The Oranje, who beat Morten Olsen's side in their first group match at the 2010 World Cup, looked for an equaliser, with  Bayern Munich 's Arjen Robben hitting the post in the 36th minute. But the Danes stood firm and Bert van Marwijk's men were unable to find a way through in front of their 10,000-15,000 travelling fans in Kharkiv. A second-half header from striker Mario Gomez was enough to see title contenders Germany through in Lviv, giving Joachim Loew's team their third straight win over Portugal in major tou

The stewards needed hospital treatment after being attacked by Russian fans at Wroclaw stadium. Video footage of the violence, which appears to have been shot in Stadion Miejsk where the match was held, has been posted on YouTube. It shows supporters, several of whom are wearing Russian replica shirts, attacking figures in fluorescent bibs who appear to be match stewards and stadium officials. Supporters can be seen striking to the ground a steward who attempted to intervene. A number then kicked him as he lay on the floor before he was rescued by colleagues and helped to his feet. "After the Russia Czech Republic match a fight broke out. A large number of fans in Russia T-shirts attacked security guards then ran away.

Friday, June 8, is one of those days that rolls around every two years on which productivity throughout much of the world is going to take a gigantic hit. That's because the Euro 2012 tournament gets under way, and it'll capture the attention of every serious soccer/football fan around the planet. And we do mean "planet" - this competition among 16 European nations is second in quality and importance only to the World Cup, and even non-European fans will be tracking it avidly. Many will be watching it online - and here's how. Let's face it: You can't take the entire next month off to watch all these games. (If you can? We want your job.) So online viewing of some sort is going to be indispensable for seeing the action while somehow simultaneously fending off your boss and getting your work done. And not everyone will be able to rely on the most legal methods to pull it off. Whether you're patched into a legal network or looking for an illicit s

What was that about sports promoting international harmony and understanding? As the hour approached for the opening whistle of the  Euro 2012  soccer tournament on Friday, it was mostly discord that was in evidence. Poland and Ukraine are co-hosting what my colleague Jeré Longman has described as “the most important sporting event in Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall.” The 16-nation tournament had been seen as an opportunity for the two former Soviet bloc states to showcase their incorporation into the wider European family over the past two decades. But, even before the first ball was kicked, the four-yearly sports festival had provoked recriminations and boycotts linked to Ukraine’s human rights record and the alleged racism among local fans in both countries. “The hope is that a million tourists, who have never visited Poland or Ukraine, will see enough to make them want to visit again,” wrote Rob Hughes, the IHT’s soccer reporter in his front-page artic