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Shevchenko dismisses Ukraine racism problem
28 May 2012 19:35:00
The former Chelsea and AC Milan man has maintained that fans going to the tournament should not fear violence in the host countries after claims made in a BBC documentary
Andriy Shevchenko insists fans have nothing to fear at Euro 2012 after a television investigation revealed that racism was still a dominant problem in Poland and Ukraine.
The former Tottenham and Arsenal defender Sol Campbell told BBC’s Panorama that the host countries should not have been allowed to host the summer tournament because of the threat of violence and abuse.
But Ukrainian international Shevchenko spoke up against Campbell’s claims.
"We don't have a real problem here about racism.” Shevchenko told the BBC.
"The country's very quiet and people are very friendly.
Campbell claimed that Uefa should have researched the threat thoroughly before sanctioning Poland and Ukraine as hosts of such an important tournament.
But Shevchenko believes that Euro 2012 will pass without any such incidents.
"I know the country did everything to make this competition very good," he continued.
"I know how much work the country tried to do: airports, in streets, stadium in the last five years.
"We never have heard problems about racism."
Former Arsenal player Oleg Luzhny, who has represented Ukraine 52 times, supported counterpart Shevchenko’s comments.
"No, no, no, I never heard about this. We have Nigerian players…and I never heard about racism," Luzhny added.
Both Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’ family revealed that they will not be travelling to the Euros to support the England players as they have concerns about racism.
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