Euro 2012: Sportsmail’s focus on Sweden

By
Chris Wheeler


PUBLISHED:

21:42 GMT, 28 May 2012

|

UPDATED:

21:51 GMT, 28 May 2012

GROUP D: SWEDEN

Not worried: Martin Olsson

Not worried: Martin Olsson

Sweden’s black players have dismissed fears over racist attacks at Euro 2012 after hearing that the families of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will not risk travelling to the tournament.

England’s group rivals have no such worries despite opening their campaign against co-hosts Ukraine in Kyiv on June 11.

Asked if he was concerned that he or his family could be targeted, Blackburn defender Martin Olsson said: ‘No, not at all. I heard that Ukraine is infamous for racism, but racism is everywhere, not just there. If my family want to go, they will go. For me it’s all about football and those people who want to watch football, nothing else.’

Sol Campbell, as reported in yesterday’s Sportsmail, warned England fans in a BBC Panorama programme not to travel because they ‘could end up coming back in a coffin’.

But Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko, the former Chelsea striker, told the BBC: ‘We don’t have a real problem here about racism. The country’s quiet and people are very friendly.’

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