PROUD OF BEING BAD
Poland, 2021.
When the “Bad” players enter the field, the atmosphere in the stadium differs from that of the Polish ultra stands. No male kop, aggressive chants or insults, but a family, mixed audience, which welcomes the opposing team with its encouragement. Aks Zly, literally “Alternative Sports Club: Bad”, aims to be the first “democratic” club in Poland, created and run by its supporters. Founded in 2015 in a working-class suburb of Warsaw, the club has a women's team and a men's team, in the 4th and 7th divisions respectively. The structure aims to be resolutely inclusive, welcoming foreign players, migrants or players with disabilities and focusing on gender equality in the offices and on the field. And after the matches, the Mauvais also organize concerts, exhibitions, literary cafés or meals where their own brand of beer flows freely. In a country which is seeing the resurgence of supporters of a white, Catholic, anti-LGBT Poland and hostile to integration, the small football club appears as a resistance.