Pomorskie

17th February 2012

A group of Arka Gdynia fans were involved in an assault of a team of seven-year-old kids representing Lechia Gdansk in a tournament in Reda last Sunday. As the toddlers headed for the changing rooms a group of men wearing Arka colours attacked them. Parents who stood in their way were assaulted and one of them severely beaten in front of the children.

One of the parents explained, “I saw a wall of people dressed in black with blue-and-yellow scarves. I thought it was parents of the Arka team having fun. Then I remembered that Arka had been eliminated a day earlier.” Police arrived at the scene in minutes, and six of those involved have been arrested.

The official Arka fan website was quick to issue a statement condemning the attack, but also accusing media of conducting, “a witchhunt” against them. They also stated they opposed “hasty” accusations against Arka fans.

One of the children that witnessed the assault, though, was clear what he’d seen. “The Arka fans came. One grown-up turned round, they started to kick him - in the head, everywhere. When we got to the changing rooms we were all crying, then we had to go out and play again,” the little boy told reporters from TVN24.

Bulwark in the Baltic

The Royal Navy amphibious assault warship HMS Bulwark arrived in Gdynia this Friday and will be spending some time on manoeuvres with the Polish Navy. It will also be possible to go on board the ship and speak to the crew. The ship, which is moored at the Nabrzeze Francuski, will be open to visitors from 10am till 4pm this Saturday and Sunday.

The ship will then take part in joint exercises with Polish armed forces. “We still haven’t established the details, but there will be various formation manoeuvres and communications procedures as well as interaction with air support,” explained Bartosz Zajda, press ooficer for the Polish Navy.

Bulwark is 176m long and is one of the largest ships in the Royal Navy. It has a crew of 320 and can transport over 1,000 soldiers together with all their equipment, including up to 30 trucks.