FIFA and UEFA have issued a joint warning to Poland after refusing to recognise the country’s new government-appointed football commissioner.
Tomasz Lipiec, Poland’s Minister of Sport, appointed a commissioner to head the Polish Football Association (PZPN), but the move contravened FIFA statutes against government interference in football association matters.
“In spite of several warnings from FIFA and UEFA, the Polish minister of sport suspended the PZPN’s board of administration including president Michal Listkiewicz on 19 January and appointed the president of the Polish football league, Andrzej Rusko, as the new commissioner of the association in line with article 23 of national sports law, a provision that FIFA and UEFA have been contesting since 2005,” said a joint FIFA and UEFA statement Monday.
“In the coming days and weeks, FIFA and UEFA will determine what action to take in response to the Polish government’s interference, which contravenes article 17 of the FIFA Statutes.”
FIFA and UEFA had supported the PZPN’s proposed new elections but on Friday, Lipiec suspended the PZPN’s management after accusing them of inaction in the face of a corruption scandal.
But this move has alarmed football’s governing bodies and raises the prospect of Poland being thrown out of both UEFA and FIFA.
