DONETSK – “Now I fear nothing, I’ve been to Donetsk,” reads the t-shirt that has become the hottest trend of Donetsk’s story as a Euro 2012 host city. Yet, once you get to the industrial east Ukrainian city, all the drama suddenly looks exaggerated, and the English fans share this feeling.
In fact, among the few things in Donetsk that look dangerous are the public toilets at the newly reconstructed multimillion-dollar railway terminal – small, poorly ventilated, with a low ceiling and overcrowded with fans waiting for their turn.
Ironically, another thing that reminds that Donetsk can be a potentially dangerous place for foreign fans comes not from the hypothetical racist troublemakers that former England captain Sol Campbell has warned about, but from law enforcement.
In Kyiv, the police have undergone a miraculous transformation and for the last two weeks has managed to look friendly, perhaps by adding a female to a three-officer patrol. The Donetsk cops look as grim, constantly wearing anti-riot gear as if expecting trouble at any second.
It got to the point of absurdity after England’s 1-0 win, as the fans’ celebration at the Golden Lion pub took place under the heavy presence of police forces and their cars with flashing lights on.
It’s all the more to the credit of the local Camping Park organizers, where many of the English fans stayed, that police officers were unseen there for most of the day of the crucial game.
Hence, the talk of the town among fans was Sol Campbell and his infamous warning on the BBC about visitors coming home from Ukraine in coffins. Campbell inspired some fans to such an extent that they actually carried six coffins during a march before the game to make the ironic point that Ukraine is actually a nice and friendly place.
Iain Ayre from London said he thought Campbell wanted to be on the BBC too much. Even though it made the decision to go to Ukraine tougher for Ayre, he’s happy that Campbell was so wrong.
He remembered that the same bad PR had been on before the World Cup in South Africa.
“In South Africa, you have to be a bit smart to stay safe,” Ayre said. “In Ukraine, you don’t even have to be.”
His friend Steve from Scotland meanwhile didn’t have much to say except chanting the song “You’re wrong Sol Cambell, we’ll do what we want.”
Yet, suddenly he got distracted from conversation, as Maria, a good looking cleaning lady in her early 20s passed by, picking up plastic beer glasses scattered by the fans. His momentous infatuation with the shy young brunette led him to help her do the job by picking up some garbage and putting it into her plastic bag.
Obviously, embarrassed with such attention, Maria quickly disappeared which led Steve go back to his chanting. Only, this time it was completely oblivious of Sol Campbell, Ukraine’s safety, racism and even soccer itself, as his song went: “Maria, sweetest, fittest sweeper in the world!”
Kyiv Post staff writer Vlad Lavrov can be reached at [email protected]
