Robert Lewandowski is the most experienced and at the same time the most decorated representative of Poland. The captain and the most important player of the team is a model for the next generations of footballers, and in matters on the pitch he certainly has a lot to say. Perhaps we will soon find out whether Lewandowski is also a skillful member of the board. Specifically in the Polish Football Association.
Robert Lewandowski on the board of the Polish Football Association? It is possible thanks to the government's idea
Sławomir Nitras, upon taking up the position of Minister of Sport and Tourism, announced changes in sports associations in Poland. WP SportoweFakty recalled that the head of the ministry had repeatedly criticized their current activities and the representatives of the ruling party apparently took this to heart.
A draft amendment to the Sports Act of 25 June 2010 has been prepared, and the date of its signing is 21 August 2024. It contains no shortage of ideas for changes in sports associations in Poland, and one of them concerns the introduction of a representative of the national team to the board of each association. Of course, this also applies to the Polish Football Association. The draft states:
“Art. 9b. 1. The board of a Polish sports association, with the exception of single-person boards, should include no less than one representative of the national team athletes in the sport in which the association organizes and conducts sports competitions, with at least one representative of the national team athletes per seven members of the board of a Polish sports association:
- 2. The representative or representatives referred to in paragraph 1 shall be elected to the management board by the players of the national team.
- 3. A national team player, as referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 5, shall be understood as a person who, in the period of four years preceding the elections to the board of a Polish sports association, but no later than six months before these elections, was at least once called up as a player in the national team in a sport organised by that Polish sports association.
- 4. The detailed procedure for electing the representatives referred to in par. 1 is specified in the statute of the Polish sports association. 5. The Polish sports association shall maintain and make available a list of national team players entitled to elect the representatives referred to in par. 1, including on its website”.
This means that one of Michał Probierz's national football team players would sit on the PZPN board. At the same time, one serious candidate comes to mind – Robert Lewandowski, the captain and most important person in the men's national football team. It is hard to imagine that the players, who would have the choice, would not decide to designate their captain. In this way, Lewandowski could become Cezary Kulesza's right-hand man and have an influence on the decision regarding the present and future of Polish football.
It is not known, however, whether the draft amendment to the act will enter into force and whether these changes will actually take place. At the moment, consultations are underway on this matter at various levels, and later, any work of the Sejm will decide on the changes.