Volodymyr Khandogiy says he regrets UK ministers' boycott of Euro 2012 games and believes football and politics do not mix
Ukraine's ambassador to the UK has dubbed a Panorama programme on racism in Ukraine "biased and unfair" and said he regrets the British government's Euro 2012 group stage boycott.
Speaking hours before the Euro 2012 football championship officially kicks off on Friday, Volodymyr Khandogiy acknowledged there were "instances" of racist abuse by Ukrainian fans. But he said the portrait painted by the BBC programme, Euro 2012: Stadiums of Hate, screened last week, was wrong.
"We do have instances of bad behaviour, intolerable behaviour, including [racial abuse] on the ground," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "But still they are instances. We are prepared to investigate and to get to the bottom of these instances rather than to generalise about racism in Ukraine."
The programme showed fans beating up a group of Asian supporters at an end of league match in the eastern city of Kharkiv.
There was also footage of fans flashing Nazi salutes. The graphic scenes prompted the former England defender Sol Campbell to urge black England supporters to avoid the tournament, warning that they might return from Euro 2012 "in a coffin".
The spectre of racism at the tournament returned on Friday after it emerged that black players in the Holland squad were subjected to monkey chants during an open practice session in the Polish city of Krakow, where the England team is based. The Polish city's home team, Wislaw Krakow, featured in Panorama's investigation, with apparent antisemitic chants.
The ambassador's accusation of BBC bias follows the announcement on Thursday that UK ministers will boycott England's three group-stage matches in Ukraine because of concerns over "selective justice and the rule of law" in the post-Soviet country. The Foreign Office's decision is in protest at the treatment of Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's former prime minister and opposition leader, now in jail.
Khandogiy said he regretted the decision to stay away from England's qualifying matches and noted that ministers had also said they were tied up with Olympic preparations. England plays France on Monday in the eastern city of Donetsk. There will be no official British presence at England's two other group stage games, against Sweden on 15 June in Kiev, and against the hosts Ukraine in Donetsk on 19 June.
He said: "There are plenty of opportunities and fora and formats where we can discuss these issues, in the Council of Europe, the EU and bilaterally. We are ready to continue these discussions and to accept criticism. But we would like to put our perspective on these issues also." He continued: "The reason for not attending I don't understand, since I believe that sport and politics, they don't mix." Khandogiy also said Tymoshenko's case was still "in the judicial domain" and "isn't over, by the way".
Tymoshenko was jailed for seven years last October after what her supporters say was a politically motivated show trial. Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych, has refused to release her, despite weeks of intense EU pressure. An appeal against her conviction has been delayed until 26 June, towards the end of Euro 2012.
In April Tymoshenko staged a hunger strike after photos appeared showing bruises on her body. She claims prison guards assaulted her and punched her in the stomach while transferring her from jail to hospital. Ukrainian prosecutors said her injuries were self-inflicted.
She is currently being held in Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, where her condition is being monitored by German doctors. The city is the venue for Germany's first group stage match against the Netherlands on 13 June.
Several EU countries, led by Germany, have already announced they will not be attending games in Ukraine. Last month the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said that she and her cabinet would not got to any German games played in Ukraine, which is co-hosting the tournament with Poland, unless the human rights situation under Yanukovych improved. Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
