Polish Government out of bounds

The move of Polish minister of sport Tomasz Lipiec appointing a commissioner to head the Polish FA, PZPN, astonished FIFA and UEFA.

The appointment violates the principle of autonomy that applies throughout the sports movement and weakens the steps taken by Polish government authorities to aid the development of Polish football.

The PZPN executive committee is the only organization that FIFA and UEFA recognise in relation to all Polish football matters.

FIFA and UEFA admonished Lipiec in January but he went ahead and suspended the PZPN's board of administration, including president Micha? Listkiewicz.

Lipiec selected the president of the Polish football league, Andrzej Rusko, as the new commissioner of the PZPN, which was in line with article 23 of the national sports law, a provision that FIFA and UEFA have been challenging since 2005.

FIFA and UEFA support the decision passed by the PZPN's board of administration in January to set up new elections on March 31. The elections would bring the leadership of Polish football into line with the new statutes that the association implemented in January.

In the future, FIFA and UEFA will decide what action to take in response to the Polish government's interference, which disregards article 17 of the FIFA Statutes.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.