Monday's meeting will be a continuation of the meeting of the management board, which recommends that the arrested president, Radosław Piesiewicz, be replaced by one of the vice presidents until the end of the term in April.
According to the unanimous opinion of lawyers, this can be done in accordance with Article 21 of the statute, which states that in the event of "the inability of the President of the Polish Olympic Committee to perform the function", by virtue of a resolution, the management board entrusts it - until the end of the term of office - to one of the vice-presidents.
Who has a chance to take over the helm of the Polish Olympic Committee?
There are 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 for now replaces Piesiewicz under 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.
Big changes are needed
We need to settle the issue of managing the Polish Olympic Committee and elect a person who will be the acting president until the end of the term. Everyone should want such a person to learn the true picture of the situation in which the Polish Olympic Committee finds itself as soon as possible, and make further decisions on this basis. In addition, there are a number of management tasks to be performed, including sending the team to the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar - said Konopka.
Apart from Piesiewicz, the management board currently consists of 60 people: IOC member Maja Włoszczowska, one representative of Polish sports associations in Olympic sports (40 this term), 12 representatives of the Society of Polish Olympians, a representative of the Polish Olympic Committee's competition commission and six additional members nominated by Olympic members.
One of the board members said anonymously that "The Polish Olympic Committee looks like Warsaw in 1945 - ruined and destroyed."
The Polish Olympic Committee has suffered a decline that no one could have imagined - said the Olympic medalist, who expressed his belief that Kmita is currently the best candidate for acting president.
Sławomir Szmal, head of the Polish Handball Association, admitted that the arrest and charges brought against Piesiewicz surprised him very much.
I have not yet thought about whether one of the vice-presidents elected on the management board should finish the term of office, or whether the next step should be to convene a General Meeting as soon as possible to elect a new president. I'm waiting for Monday to ask questions and talk about the situation at the Polish Olympic Committee. The person who will take responsibility and further manage the Polish Olympic Committee should, first of all, conduct an audit, he emphasized.
Without prior elections?
The former handball player recalled that the financial report for 2025, presented by President Piesiewicz, was not accepted by the management board. That's why we need to find out the facts first and only then talk about it, he added.
A large group of management board members maintains that the president elected on Monday will complete his term of office, which expires in April 2027. No early elections will be announced.
Otherwise, the point of electing an acting president is lost. During the presidium meeting, no one commented on the issue of early elections. I am glad that legal opinions are starting to converge, Rafał Tataruch told the Polish Press Agency.
As he mentioned, the imperfect statute of the Polish Olympic Committee causes many ambiguities and freedom of interpretation. He submitted a motion for the revised statute to be accepted by the community for the new term of office.
Regarding the threatened liquidity of the Committee's finances, he informed that Secretary General Marek Pałus informed that "a large subsidy is to be received at the end of December, which will largely compensate for the liabilities."
In what way - remains to be seen. We have heard for a long time that each month was deducted from current activities. There is definitely a big financial hiccup and a big problem, Tataruch admitted.
President of the Polish Olympic Committee detained
