At Sport.pl, we were the first to inform about the events of mid -February. It was then at the meeting of the presidents of Polish sports associations, it took place to sign a letter Calling PKol helmsman, Radosław Piesiewicz to resign from the function. At that time, 22 of 27 union presidents present at the meeting signed the letter. What is going on in this matter? The opposition is not idle because they are coming hot for all days.
Some CEOs met with Piesiewicz
First, Piesiewicz himself reacted to the letter asking for a resignation. He translated the PKol Board planned to the end of February by one month and began to check what was happening in the environment. Too sent letters to the presidents of unions, asking for individual meetings. Some of the presidents thanked them, some came to talk.
Meetings with presidents looked similar. Piesiewicz reported that the narrative about irregularities in the PKol is a lie, that the Audit Committee watches over everything, and some of the discreetly made decisions-such as the candidacy of Andrzej Duda as a member of the I head Some presidents told us that Piesiewicz's narrative in many places did not agree with the facts or the information they had, but there were no specifics in these conversations. There was a vision of a functional manager who did a lot of good for Polish sport.
We would like to remind you that for a year Piesiewicz has been dealing with allegations of bad use of the committee's money, for high earnings, about which at the beginning many of the members of the management board did not know about traveling to the Games in Paris of nineteen activists and accompanying persons from unions whose athletes did not qualify for the party, for almost half a year of payments for the Olympic medalists for almost half a year about the issue of the PKol money investment (almost PLN 1.5 million) at the Olimpic Sky restaurant. Piesiewicz and his trusted people – Secretary General Marek Pałus and Katarzyna Kochaniak, head of marketing and communication of the committee, sat in the authorities of its company. Julita Słowikowska, former director of the Polish Basketball Association, whose president was once Piesiewicz was also 30 percent of the shares in the company. She brought nothing to the company. The PKol restaurant is investigated by the prosecutor's office, like several other threads regarding the issue of fictitious invoices and causing multi-million property damage.
Korzeniowski convenes a meeting at the Grand Theater
More and more presidents of sports relationships with the situation around the PKol is already clearly tired. The signatories of the letter with a request for the resignation of Piesiewicz were joined by more, In total, 39 people have already gathered. In addition to their thoughts on whether and how to dismiss Piesiewicz (resolution of the board), there are also those regarding his successor.
The names of the candidates have recently been rained, but more in the media or from activists: Maja Włoszczowska, Tomasz Chamera, but also Robert Korzeniowski – we heard about them.
As Sport.pl found out, it was the latter, which was also one of the initiators of the letter, who convened a large meeting of the presidents of unions on March 17. “The future of Polish sport, not just the Olympic” is to be discussed on it. A large part of the presidents connect this with what is to happen in the PKol case in the coming days. What does Korzeniowski say?
– I am the president of the Olympic Association. His role is, among others, to spread the idea of Olympism, educate the society at the same time of the sports environment around the topics important to all of us. Because my friends and colleagues are taken over by the situation in the Polish United Workers' Party, I try to include in the discussion – he tells us a four -time Olympic gold medalist in gait.
– My role is obvious here. I have been in sport for 41 years. It is obvious that I am also worried about what is happening in the environment. The way of functioning in PKol Mr. Radosław Piesiewicz is both embarrassing and a dangerous incident in the 105-year history of this organization. Let me just remind you that Mr. Piesiewicz appeared with us, Olympians, not us at his place – he tells. Korzeniowski does not play any role in PKol, when we ask him about this matter, he just smiles.
– Mr. Piesiewicz removed me from all committees or working groups, which was amazing first, but now I can treat it as a kind of distinction. I was an Olympian and I am him. I do not need titles and functions in a group to speak and be interested in matters of sport or committee, whether he tried to act for his good – he tells.
Interestingly, Korzeniowski was the initiator of the meeting with the presidents of the Union. It occurred in the second half of February at the Lubomirski Palace. Now it seems that the turnout at the next meeting will be greater. He will probably reach several dozen people, because the opposition to Piesiewicz is growing. The meeting place is also a bit surprising – the Grand Theater. However, as we heard, on Monday the agreement of the Olympiczycy.pl Association is to be signed there with the Director of the Grand Theater and the National Opera. Thanks to this, all Olympians will be able to use invitations to the theater and opera. It's such a nice gesture for them.
Korzeniowski as president?
The Olympian, who was once the director of TVP Sport or the organizer of several sports events, and who has now become an adviser to the Minister of Sport and Tourism, we also asked about his possible candidacy for the president of the PKol.
– Let's discuss what the PKol should be for. Only then do we match the person who would cope with this task. Today it is not about replacing the president who broke all ethical principles and good customs. The idea is for this organization to function normally for many years, representing all Polish sport and being an institution of real social trust. So let's talk about what the new statute is to be, the new tasks of the committee, what relations with society and the sports environment should be – said Korzeniowski diplomatically.
– The last PKol was brought only to the discussion about money for usually pseudo marketing having its sources in political connections. What's more, this marketing concerned directly the person of President Piesiewicz himself, whom we “admired” on the covers of colorful magazines and billboards surrounded by the stars of Polish Olympism. Of course, PKol should deal with the marketing of five wheels, but do it above all acting as a guardian of sports and universal values - Korzeniowski tells us.
Will March 17 be a key day not only in developing a plan for a real attempt to change in the Polish United Workers' Party, but also the moment when a new candidate for president will appear more officially?