Legia banned, Poland spared in UEFA probe
By: Ian Rose | July 11th, 2007After the halftime riot at this weekend’s Intertoto match with Vetra FC, Legia Warsaw fans have handed themselves a trip home from Europe, and a ban from their next European qualifying year. When Legia ultras packed the field and started throwing missiles, setting off pyrotechnics, etc., they basically single-handedly eliminated their side, but there was also some talk of a UEFA decision against all of Polish football, which would have been a huge blow. In the wake of their successful Euro 2012 bid, this should be a great time for the Polish FA, but now the Legia incident will be all many fans remember of Polish football for some time to come. Still, this was one team’s fans, and I would have been disappointed in UEFA had they ruled against all of Poland. Personally, I think punishing the team, as well as prosecuting the fans to the full extent of the law (Lithuanian law, I’m guessing, has some interesting extents) is the right answer. Ultras like this have lost sight of the original reason for their existence – they are supposed to be supporters. These “supporters” have done the opposite of support – they have single-handedly taken their team out of European qualification, and made it unlikely they’ll return anytime soon. Hope it was worth it.
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Poland sort of lives through England’s hooligan troubles of the 80s atm it seems.
I guess this decision is also meant as an early warning towards Poland’s Euro 2012 organisation efforts.
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