Dutch Soccer Club Taunted By Monkey Chants By Polish Fans

The Dutch soccer team was bombarded by racist “monkey chants” from Polish fans during a practice session for the European Championship tournament in Warsaw. The jeers appeared to be directed at the black players on the club.

Both Poland and Ukraine, which are jointly holding the tournament, have been warned by European soccer officials to stamp out any signs of racism during the games.

Mark van Bommel, a member of the Dutch squad (who is not black) told The De Telegraaf newspaper of Holland: We heard it because we were jogging right by the stands. We will not accept that one of us is confronted with monkey chants. We will point it out to the referee and if such chants are heard again we will ask him to intervene.

European soccer's governing body, The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), said “it will take action if there is a repeat of such abuse. UEFA has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to discriminatory behavior and has given the power to referees to stop matches in case of any repeated racist behavior.”