Polish Football Hit By Corruption Scandal 07/2005

Just when Poland’s bid to host the 2012 finals together with Ukraine is making progress, Polish football has been hit by a major corruption scandal. To win, a team needs lost of ready cash and easy access to corrupt players and referees, according to a disgraced team owner who has come forward to claim that Poland’s favourite sport is rotten to the core.

The revelations of Peter Dziurowicz, the owner of GKS Katwoice in Silesia in western Poland, have convinced many Poles that the results of any professional match in the country are open to question. The Polish Football Association has called an emergency meeting to figure out how to fix a sport that has been plagued for many years by corruption, low earnings, worn out facilities and top players who can’t wait to play for a wealthier club in a foreign league.

His money doesn’t seem to have been well spent. GKS is now playing in the fourth division, perhaps because the club was outbribed by its rivals. Even so, so much money was being paid out that the finances of the club began imploding. The 29-year old club president has been assisting police in their enquiries and his information has led to the arrest of two premier league referees as well as a referee observer.

Cleaning up football’s image is increasingly important. The sport is attracting international sponsors such as Germany’s Puma, which recently extended its sponsorhip agreement. Rich Poles such as Janusz Fillipak, chief executive of Comarch computer company and owner of Cracovia, a Krakow team, are buying football clubs.