Squad Watch: Week 9. Stadiums Closed Until Further Notice.

May 10th, 2011 | by: tomasz | Comments(21)

It seems that there are only idiots in Polish football. And no, this time I’m not talking about Smuda and his associates. The idiots are the ones involved in the fights after the Polish Cup final in Bydgoszcz and the ones who, as a result, decided to close the stadiums in Poznań and Warsaw. As always, the Polish government has no idea how to deal with the hooligans not hurting the ordinary fans at the same time.

Goalkeepers:

Artur Boruc (Fiorentina): 90 minutes against Inter
Tomasz Kuszczak (ManUtd): on the bench against Chelsea
Sebastian Małkowski (Lechia Gdańsk): on the bench against Wisła
Grzegorz Sandomierski (Jagiellonia Bialystok): 90 minutes against Widzew, note 5
Wojciech Szczęsny (Arsenal London): 90 minutes against Stoke
Przemyslaw Tytoń (Roda Kerkrade): no match
Łukasz Załuska (Celtic Glasgow): on the bench against Kilmarmock

Defenders:

Blażej Augustyn (Catania): not in the squad against Brescia
Piotr Brożek (Trabzonspor): not in the squad against Bucaspor
Piotr Celeban (Śląsk Wrocław): 90 minutes against Polonia B., note 6
Dariusz Dudka (AJ Auxerre): 90 minutes against Montpellier
Kamil Glik (Bari): not in the squad against Palermo, red card ban
Arkadiusz Głowacki (Trabzonspor): 90 minutes against Bucaspor
Tomasz Jodłowiec (Polonia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 4
Marcin Kikut (Lech Poznań): not in the squad against Widzew, injury
Łukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund): 90 minutes against Werder
Jakub Rzeźniczak (Legia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Korona, note 6
Maciej Sadlok (Polonia Warsaw): on the bench against Cracovia
Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht): not in the squad against Genk
Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznań): 90 minutes against Widzew, note 6
Hubert Wołąkiewicz (Lech Poznań): 90 minutes against Górnik, note 7
Michał Żewłakow (free transfer): cancelled his contract with Ankaragucu

Midfielders:

Tomasz Bandrowski (Lech Poznan): not in the squad against Górnik, injury
Jakub Błaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund): 34 minutes against Werder
Ariel Borysiuk (Legia Warsaw): 74 minutes against Korona, note 5
Mateusz Cetnarski (GKS Belchatow): 33 minutes and an assist against Arka, note 6
Tomasz Cywka (Derby County): not in the squad against Reading
Janusz Gol (Legia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Korona, note 6
Roger Guerreiro (AEK Athens): 56 minutes against Olympiakos Volos
Maciej Iwański (Manisaspor): not in the squad against Gaziantespor, injury
Jacek Kiełb (Lech Poznań): 90 minutes against Górnik, note 5
Tomasz Kupisz (Jagiellonia Bialystok): 90 minutes against Widzew, note 4
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Stade Reims): 90 minutes against Nimes
Radosław Majewski (Nottingham Forest): on the bench against Crystal Palace
Patryk Małecki (Wisla Krakow): 90 minutes against Lechia, note 5
Adam Matuszczyk (FC Koeln): on the bench against Eintracht
Adrian Mierzejewski (Polonia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 7
Rafał Murawski (Lech Poznań): not in the squad against Górnik, injury
Ludovic Obraniak (Lille): not in the squad against Nancy, banned for misbehaviour
Sławomir Peszko (FC Koeln): not in the squad against Eintracht, injury
Maciej Rybus (Legia Warsaw): 16 minutes against Korona, note 5
Bartosz Salamon (Foggia): not in the squad against Taranto
Cezary Wilk (Wisła Kraków): 90 minutes against Lechia, note 6

Attackers:

Paweł Brożek (Trabzonspor): 62 minutes against Bucaspor
Kamil Grosicki (Sivasspor): 23 minutes against Ankaragucu
Michał Janota (Go Ahead Eagles): 90 minutes against AGOVV
Ireneusz Jeleń (AJ Auxerre): 76 minutes against Montpellier
Michał Kucharczyk (Legia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Korona, note 5
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund): 76 minutes against Werder
Andrzej Niedzielan (Korona Kielce): 90 minutes against Legia, note 4
Dawid Nowak (GKS Belchatow): 90 minutes and a goal against Arka, note 6
Szymon Pawłowski (Zagłębie Lubin): 87 minutes against Ruch, note 5
Dawid Plizga (Zagłębie Lubin): 90 minutes and an assist against Ruch, note 5
Marcin Robak (Konyaspor): 90 minutes against Genclerbirligi
Ebi Smolarek (Polonia Warsaw): 90 minutes and a goal against Cracovia, note 6
Artur Sobiech (Polonia Warsaw): 90 minutes against Cracovia, note 4

Summary: The tension surrounding the fans’ organizations in Poland has been clearly felt lately. First, there was an assault of the leader of Lech Poznań fans (Wiara Lecha), Litar, on the family who came to watch the Poland vs. Ivory Coast game and were ‘careless’ enough to buy tickets for the behind the goal stand. They were so irresponsible that they even wore the national team colours during the national team game. Not to be outdone, the leader of the Legia Warsaw fans, Staruch, assaulted his own player, Jakub Rzeźniczak, after one of the less successful games. Since we live in the times of CCTV and video cameras in mobile phones, both incidents were recorded and presented in the media. Consequently, the government had to take a stance and promise that they’d solve the football hooligans problem, as this was something the society expected of them at this point. Even though it was only talk, not undertaking any action, on the government side, the fans reacted very energetically and started undermining the prime minister’s Donald Tusk policy. On numerous Ekstraklasa stadiums you could spot the banner that the fans (‘kibole’) are only an imaginary problem and that Tusk uses it to hide his incompetence and draw the media’s attention to something else. So far so good, at this point I was more convinced by the fans’ point of view. Don’t get me wrong, I’d happily get rid of rude behavior and people like Litar or Staruch from Polish stadiums. I also don’t want the fans’ organizations to be in control of the stadiums since they are first to defend their own interests, not the interests of the other spectators. At the same time, I think the crusade against the fans went too far and at one point all people interested in football and attending the games regularly were associated with a mindless troglodyte who is just looking for an opportunity to punch somebody in the face. I was on the fans’ side, until some of them proved too imbecile to be treated seriously.

I wasn’t in Poland at the time of the Polish Cup final, but I read and watched as much as possible after I came back. From day one, the FA’s idea to organize the game between the two teams whose fans hate each other in Bydgoszcz was an irresponsible one. Still, I thought that in the wake of the recent government’s witch hunt aimed at the fans the latter would be able to answer with great atmosphere and prove that they can support their teams without threatening anybody or anything. Once again, the fans’ organizations proved not, well, organized enough to be trusted. The Legia fans entered the pitch after the game and the Lech fans reacted with demolishing the stadium and attacking the security service. Even the TV studio was destroyed in this violent frenzy. As the saying in Poland goes: ‘you presented yourself very nicely in front of millions of viewers’. Surely, after such a great presentation of fans’ culture and harmlessness nobody would even touch them. If they thought in this manner they may be bigger idiots than I thought them to be. Consequently, the government reacted in the worst possible way, that is by closing the stadiums in Warsaw and Poznań. Once again, thousands of fans had to pay for the idiocy of the hundreds. The police said that they can’t guarantee safety on the stadiums, but somehow they had no problems with it before the Bydgoszcz incident. It was clearly a political decision, a one ordered by the prime minister. He wanted to show that he can do something, but in fact he showed the weakness of his own state apparatus. It is the police who should be able to do something, catch the criminals posing as fans on the spot and sentence them as soon as possible. Closing down the stadiums only shows that the police is not able to do their work properly. By his decision Tusk wanted to put pressure on the clubs; no spectators means no money for them. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the clubs were compensated after they sue the government, which would be considered the biggest loser in this situation. At this point, the only result of the stadium closure is chaos and the further defamation of Polish football.

I agree that the hooligans have to be eliminated. They are people who break the law and should face the consequences for it. The saddest thing, however, is that nobody in power in Poland has any idea about how to deal with the problem. We’ve got a year left till the Euros. I don’t want to be ashamed in front of the rest of the world in 2012.

Ps: I promise to write about football next time.

Ps 2: I haven’t been allocated any tickets for the Euros…but my sister has. I’m sure to see the quarter final in Warsaw. I’ll have to fight for the other tickets though, Any luck on your side?