Katyn anniversary tragedy appears to be uniting Russia and Poland

Katyn has symbolised bitter division between Poland and Russia for 70 years. Now the new tragedy associated with its name appears to have united them to an extent unprecedented since the Second World War massacre.

The outpouring of Russian sympathy for grieving Poles, at official and street levels, may have done more in 48 hours to erode mutual suspicion than any amount of diplomacy since Poland emerged from Moscow’s shadow after the collapse of the Soviet Eastern Bloc.

Russians traditionally celebrate April 12 as Cosmonauts’ Day, in honour of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. But yesterday was a day of mourning, with flags at half mast in Moscow. Hundreds of people, many close to tears, laid flowers and lit candles outside the Polish Embassy and at the site in Smolensk where the presidential jet crashed on Saturday, killing all 96 on board.

The government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta called the catastrophe “our common sorrow” and the opposition Novaya Gazeta declared in Polish: “We are with you.” President Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, have been visibly moved by the enormity of the latest loss of Polish life on Russian soil.

Poland and other states long used to regarding Russia as an aggressive bear have suddenly witnessed a more humane face of their former bête noire. After placing roses before a portrait of President Kaczynski and his wife, Maria, at the Polish Embassy, Mr Medvedev wrote in the book of condolences that the “dreadful tragedy . . . has shocked the Russian people”. He added: “The loss left an unfillable void. We are grieving together with you.”

Mr Putin’s embrace of Donald Tusk, his Polish counterpart, at the crash site has become a symbol of the new entente. He told the Russian Cabinet that the country was “grieving together with the Poles”.

Mr Putin has promised a full investigation by Russian and Polish experts working together in a clear attempt to dispel even a shadow of suspicion over the causes of the crash. Any unanswered questions would provide fertile grounds for conspiracy theories that each side knows could wreck hopes for lasting rapprochement.

History is not easily overcome and everyday politics has a habit of corroding goodwill once the initial shock of a tragedy has worn off. It remains too early to say whether Russia and Poland are entering a new era of improved understanding or merely expressing common emotions at an accident whose impact will fade with time.

For now, shared grief over the “second Katyn tragedy” has created more space for Russians to consider the first. State television broadcast Andrzej Wajda’s film about the 1940 massacre of 22,000 officers for the second time in ten days on Sunday, presenting viewers with a Polish history lesson that the Soviet Union had lied about for half a century. The state news agency Ria-Novosti also published the speech that Mr Kaczynski, a vehement critic of the Kremlin, was to have given in Katyn to mark the 70th anniversary. It contained a poignant appeal for reconciliation days after Mr Putin and Mr Tusk held the first joint memorial service at the site of the slaughter.

“Katyn became a painful wound of Polish history, which poisoned relations between Poles and Russians for decades. Let’s make the Katyn wound finally heal and cicatrise,” Mr Kaczynski had planned to say. “We are on the way to do it. We, Poles, appreciate what Russians have done in the past years. We should follow the path which brings our nations closer.”

Source:timesonline.co.uk/

In Poland, Santa works year-round

KOSTOWIEC, Poland — He is 76, sports a long white beard, and likes people to call him Santa. For a decade, Pole Romuald Madrakiewicz has criss-crossed his country helping his fellow poor, and not only with seasonal cheer.

"It's Santa! Santa!" yelled a crowd of youngsters at a primary school in Kostowiec, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Poland's capital Warsaw.

Dressed from head to toe in red, with a sack on his back, Madrakiewicz strode in.

The marvelling children tugged on his beard: it was real, for sure.

He dipped into his sack, producing sweets and other little gifts which he shared out among them.

But this Santa is not just a giver. He also comes to collect.

The children in Kostowiec had prepared four big parcels, filled with food, sweets, soap, and toys. They were bound for an orphanage in Krosno, in southern Poland.

"Santa gave us the orphanage's address last year, as well as the addresses of several poor families who need help," Zbigniew Reluga, head of the school, told AFP.

"Since then, the children have been doing what they can to help, and Santa comes to see us several times a year," he added.

Madrakiewicz said he aims to teach youngsters what really matters.

"My visits are meant to help them understand that in life you can share everything you have," he explained.


He clearly knows how to spread his message.

"Sometimes the kids even put their favourite mascot in the packet," he said emotionally.

This Santa's real magic is to spread a sense of generosity wherever he goes.

Behind his smile, Madrakiewicz carries a lot of hurt.

A former social worker, he gets by on a tiny pension and doesn't have a real home. He lived in a hostel for the homeless last year, and is now staying with friends.

When he needs money to buy gifts, he sometimes hunts for bottles and scrap metal to swap for petty cash.

"Santa gives out gifts and doesn't expect anything back, and on top of that, he gives everything he's got," Madrakiewicz said, his eyes fired up.

He learned his values in his family home in southeast Poland, and in the Scouts, he explained. "You're a Scout your whole life, and a Scout does a good deed every day," he added.

He has won growing recognition for his work -- in 2007 he was named Poland's volunteer of the year -- and is increasingly in demand.

He receives dozens of letters every day via the office of Homo Mizerus, a magazine for the homeless based in a poor district of Warsaw.

"I get a massive amount of post which I hand over to those who help me, because I simply don't have time to read them all, let alone come to the aid of everyone who needs me. It costs a lot and the parcels have got too heavy for me," he said.

As he grows older, he is looking for a successor.

Turning to the youngsters, he called out: "Who can be Santa?"

"Someone who's kind to other people," replied six-year-old Filip.

"Anyone can be Santa, as long as they know how to share," Madrakiewicz responded.

Source:AFP

Poland to decide on legality of gambling sponsoring football

Online gambling companies have become a big source of sponsorships for football clubs. Poland’s proposed legislation to restrict online gambling poses a real threat to football clubs as their major source of finance is threatened. The Wall Street Journal reports on the implications of the legislation for football and states that e-gaming companies provide USD 18.2 million to Polish sports annually, and this includes Unibet's USD 4 million per season sponsorship of Polish football’s second tier 1 Liga. Bet-At-Home and BetClick, other leading on-line gambling operations, are the shirt-sponsors for Wisla Krakow and Lech Poznan, which are leading Polish teams. These annual USD 3 million agreements stand to become illegal if the draft legislation is passed.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski banned slot machines and restricted gambling to actual physical buildings through a bill he signed on Friday. The bill has also outlawed gambling-related marketing and advertising. Poland's legal direction is not a stand-alone position though as e-gaming sponsorship is already illegal in Russia and Ukraine. The European Court of Justice’s ruled against Bwin in the suit it brought against Portugal’s state-controlled monopoly over sport-betting. Bwin’s sponsorship of the Portuguese football league had previously been outlawed by the national government.

The current reality is that football is growing increasingly reliant on money from online gaming agencies. Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are among those who wear shirts sponsored by gambling companies. With the global economic crisis taking its toll on many traditional sponsors, it has been a great time for online gaming companies to establish themselves as major sports sponsors.

Given this reality, a ban on gambling sponsorships has serious implications and can well affect the competitiveness of Polish clubs in the European leagues. There is serious concern that if online betting companies are banned in Poland they will have not motivation to be sponsors in the market and their beneficiaries will not be able to find easy replacements.

Even if Poland passes this law there are questions about whether the European Commission will let it stand. Given that one third of English Premier League teams now have shirt-sponsorships with online-gambling companies and given Austrian betting company Bwin’s recent deal with AC Milan and Real Madrid, this is a matter of great interest to the rest of Europe also. There are many newly regulated markets opening up for gambling at the same time and this is likely to facilitate the football and gambling industry alliances. France is expected lift a ban in January which will enable Ligue 1 clubs Marseille and Lyon to wear shirts sponsored by the Malta-based gambling company, Betclic. Italy passed a law allowing online poker last year and Denmark plans to open up its gambling market. This latter development may be the forerunner of things to come in the Scandinavian countries; earlier this year Spanish club Valencia was not allowed to wear shirts with its sponsor Unibet’s name while playing a match in Norway.

There are also concerns about a complete ban on sponsorship of sports by gambling companies similar to the one placed on tobacco companies. Alcohol and gambling sponsorships have recently been scrutinized and they are vulnerable to being outlawed on ethical grounds. A sports-business strategy and marketing professor, Simon Chadwick, says that " …there's now discussion over the banning of alcohol sponsorships, and gambling may also be banned in the coming years because there is a general consensus that socially undesirable sponsorships should not be allowed.” He also refers to the Lisbon Treaty, that is about to be ratified, and feels that online gambling sponsorships can be seen as going against the treaty’s emphasis on leading healthy lifestyles.

The gambling sector and its huge financial contributions to the sponsorship market means that any legislative ban will have tremendous impact on sports in general and football in particular.

Source:eufootball.biz/