Polish athletes may lose the right to compete in the Olympic Games if the International Olympic Committee suspends the membership rights of the Polish Olympic Committee. Such a scenario is being considered amid the arrest of the committee’s president, Radosław Piesiewicz.
This was reported by Onet, citing an internal letter from Polish Olympic Committee vice-president Tomasz Chamera.
Piesiewicz was arrested and charged as part of an investigation linked to the Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange. After that, Chamera contacted IOC Head of Institutional Relations and Governance Jerome Poivey to clarify the committee’s position and possible ways out of the crisis.
According to Chamera, the IOC proposed three options. The first provides for Piesiewicz’s voluntary resignation as president of the Polish Olympic Committee.
The second scenario is for the committee’s bodies to independently decide on his suspension or dismissal without external interference, including from the Ministry of Sport and Tourism.
The third and most risky option is intervention by the International Olympic Committee. If the Polish Olympic Committee is unable to resolve the situation on its own, the IOC may suspend its membership rights.
In that case, Polish athletes would not be able to participate in the Olympic Games, including the Youth Olympic Games.
Chamera has already formally asked Polish Olympic Committee secretary-general Marek Pałus to convene a board meeting.
Radosław Piesiewicz was detained on August 27 by officers of the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime in a case linked to the Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange. He was charged with paid influence peddling and favoring certain creditors to the detriment of others.
According to investigators, before the exchange collapsed, Piesiewicz was able to recover 100% of the funds he had invested, while withdrawals for thousands of other clients were blocked. Prosecutors believe that this placed him in a privileged position.
A court ordered the head of the Polish Olympic Committee to be held in custody for three months. Piesiewicz does not admit to the charges against him.
