SoccerSports & Politics

Poland Knows People Will Be Rowdy During Euro 2012, So It Emptied Its Prisons

The 2012 European Championship is almost here, which means a month of sometimes exceptional soccer that will remind you why you pretend to mildly care about the U.S. Men’s (and Women’s) National Team once every four years. In anticipation of the plentiful rowdying sure to take place, Poland has moved 600 inmates from prisons in host cities to make room for, that’s right, future arrests.

Via The Kerryman Newspaper:

“Some 350 judges are being put on stand-by on match days in the four host cities: Warsaw, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Poznan, and that even more could be brought in from nearby cities if necessary.

Warsaw, with a central fan zone for 110,000 people, will have 170 judges ready to take on cases. Gdansk will have 78 judges, Wroclaw 51 and Poznan 50, numbers based on fan zone size, the fenced off areas where people without tickets will be able to watch matches on large TV screens.

Lawyers and interpreters will be put on standby. Temporary courtrooms have been arranged at stadiums to allow summary trials in case of stadium violence during the June 8-July 1 games.”

So, fear not. If your face gets bashed in, you don’t have to worry about long distance phone call charges back home – there are plenty of lawyers on retainer to take your case.

[Kerryman Newspaper, via Off The Bench]