Marian Kmita takes over as president of the Polish Olympic Committee

The presidium of the board of the Polish Olympic Committee recommended that the duties of the arrested president, Radosław Piesiewicz, be taken over by one of the vice-presidents until the end of the term.

Marian Kmita, who will take over Piesiewicz's duties, was the only candidate. 43 members of the management board voted for his candidacy, nine were against and one person abstained from voting, said the members of the electoral commission.

The board's deliberations are ongoing.

Until the end of Piesiewicz's term

According to the unanimous opinion of the lawyers, such a choice could have been made in accordance with Article 21 of the statute, which states, among other things, that due to the "inability of the President of the Polish Olympic Committee to perform the function", by resolution, the management board entrusts it - until the end of the term of office - to one of the vice-presidents.

Theoretically, there were eight candidates: vice-president of the Polish Sailing Association Tomasz Chamera, head of the swimming association Otylia Jędrzejczak, sports director of Polsat television Marian Kmita, vice-president and honorary president of the fencing federation Adam Konopka, president of the Polish Association of Rowing Associations Adam Korol, president of the Society of Polish Olympians Mieczysław Nowicki, who had so far replaced Piesiewicz by virtue of his authorization and convened the first meeting of the Polish Olympic Committee's authorities, the honorary president of the Polish Olympic Committee, Henryk Olszewski, and the former head of the wrestling association, Andrzej Supron.

Transition period in the Polish Olympic Committee

We are in a transition period, so we need to choose a person who will be the acting president until the end of the term. Only then do we have to consider the next steps, Konopka said before entering the meeting.

Piesiewicz in custody

Radosław Piesiewicz, the current head of the Polish Olympic Committee, was arrested on August 27 in Warsaw as part of an investigation into the Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange, which had been the general sponsor of the Polish Olympic Committee since October last year. On the same day, in the Silesian department of the National Prosecutor's Office, he was charged with paid protection and satisfying a group of Zondacrypto creditors to the detriment of others in connection with the threatened insolvency. He pleaded not guilty.

After questioning Piesiewicz, who agreed to provide his full name, the prosecutor's office filed a request to the court to arrest him for three months. The court agreed to this request, and on Monday the District Court in Katowice, which considered the defense's complaint against the use of such a preventive measure, upheld the earlier decision.