The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship will kick off a week from today. Normally it’s a cause for celebration, but concerns that some racist fans in the host countries of Poland and the Ukraine will harm black and Asian fans and players have dominated any discussion about the tournament. Is racism really that entrenched in European soccer?
Grant Wahl is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, and Paul Elliott is the director of “Kick It Out,” an organization working to eradicate racism from football. He’s also a former Chelsea captain.
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