As soon as all costs are accounted for, we will present all documents to the public. We are not ashamed of anything, we will not hide anything. Everything will be shown transparently about how the POC funds were spent,” said President Radosław Piesiewicz.
On Monday, members of the Polish Olympic Committee Presidency met at the Warsaw Olympic Centre. The President of the Polish Olympic Committee limited himself to a brief statement to journalists.
We would like to inform you that we are only in the first week after the Paris Olympics. As soon as all the costs are accounted for, we will present all the documents to the public. We are not ashamed of anything, we will not hide anything. Everything will be transparently shown about what the POC funds were spent on.
– said Piesiewicz.
For two hours, issues related to the results of Polish athletes at the Paris Olympic Games were discussed, as well as the costs incurred by the Polish Olympic Committee for this event.
We will not enter into a dispute or war with the ministry (of sports – PAP). We want to explain everything. It is not true that we are trying to hide something in secret. We will share our expenses soon.
– Mieczysław Nowicki, president of the Society of Polish Olympic Athletes, told PAP.
A member of the presidium of the Polish Olympic Committee, a two-time Olympic medalist (silver and bronze at the 1976 Montreal Olympics) in road cycling, admitted that during the meeting there was a proposal to invite Minister Sławomir Nitras to the presidium of the Polish Olympic Committee. The date has not yet been set.
What was said?
Nowicki confirmed that the topic of political pressure on the Polish Olympic Committee and the possibility of informing the IOC about the matter was not discussed.
We did not discuss this issue. We focused on what the Polish Olympic Committee is obliged to do, which results from the legal provisions. We talked about increased motivation for Olympic medalists and prizes for them.
– he added.
The president of the Society of Polish Olympic Athletes said that the media frenzy that arose after the disclosure of equipment deficiencies complained about by one of the cyclists, or other problems reported by a fighter or pentathlete, are matters exclusively to be resolved between the sports associations and the Ministry of Sports.
We, as the Polish Olympic Committee, are responsible for transportation to the games, for the gala uniforms and we are one of the few countries in the Olympic village that provides air conditioning.
– he explained.
Nowicki recently came under fire from the media about the Polish Olympic Committee. While refueling his car, he heard that “activists traveled to Paris at the expense of doctors and athletes.” He called the comments “absurd.”
Soon, each POC board member will receive a three-page message regarding recent events, which they should refer to.
It will be something similar to what the POC does and is obliged to do. This is not a question of concerns about the minister. Everyone has to take a clear position on this matter.
– he explained.
Nowicki admitted that he could not remember such a bad atmosphere after the Olympics as the one currently surrounding Polish sport.
The appetite for medals before the games was aroused. And it was. The world is not asleep and is up to date with modern technologies and training methods.
– he added.
The Montreal Olympic medallist is aware that it is increasingly difficult to encourage young people to take part in sports in Poland. His organisation has been running the “Touch the Olympic Medal” and “Big PE Lesson” campaigns in the Łódź region for several years.
We travel around the schools and see how this affects the students’ imagination when they see the medal and the athlete who won it up close. Do the school principals keep calling and asking when the next meeting is?
A week ago, Sports Minister Sławomir Nitras presented data on the X website regarding state budget financing for the preparation of athletes for the 2022-24 Paris Olympic Games. They show that MSiT and State Treasury companies transferred funds to the Polish Olympic Committee during this period.
PLN 92,163,180. Meanwhile, Polish Olympic associations received at the same time PLN 785,659,000 from the state budget.
The head of the Ministry of Sports asked the President of the Polish Olympic Committee, Radosław Piesiewicz, to provide documentation concerning, among other things, the composition of the delegations of individual associations to the Olympic Games in Paris. This information was to be sent to the Ministry of Sports and Tourism by 14 August 2024. This was in connection with media criticism of the President of the Polish Olympic Committee that athletes had worse conditions than the committee’s activists.
On Friday, Nitras said the POC had not provided the information and stressed that an official IOC document requires the disclosure of such information.
gah/PAP
