Poland's EU presidency to tackle sports corruption

Polish football has been marred with corruption allegations over the last few years with mass arrests and sentencing of officials, coaches and players on match fixing charges.
Six former and current representatives of Poland's national football team recently faced justice as part of a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption within the game.

According to Jakub Kwiatkowski, the sports ministry's spokesman, match fixing is threatening the integrity of sport.

"Match fixing is a modern form of corruption,” he told Polish Radio.

The ministry wants to create an office modeled on the World Anti-Doping Agency whose aim would be fighting corruption in sport.

Poland has already turned to UEFA for help on the issue, says Jakub Kwiatkowski.

"UEFA is determined to fight this negative phenomenon and we have already talked with the European Football governing body and presented them with our priorities for the presidency. UEFA presdident Michel Platini says he want to cooperate with Poland on this," he said.

During the Polish EU presidency the Ministry of Sports would also like to promote the social role of sport.

"We will publicize the Polish concept of sports fields for children as part of the "Orlik 2012" project," the ministry's spokesman told us.

The project provides for the creation of 600 identical sport facilities, including a football pitch, multi-purpose pitch, locker rooms, etc., in every commune, Poland's smallest administrative unit.

The facilities are to be open 24/7 and those attending will be professionally coached.
"We want to fight social exclusion. It often happens that both children and young people have no access to any sports facility and this is where the Orlik 2012 project would come in handy," Jakub Kwiatkowski says.

"We want to promote on the European arena the program of building sports fields which helps limit this social exclusion and guarantees childnre a wide access to modern sport facilities."

During the Polish EU presidency an informal meeting of the EU sports ministers is to take place in the southern city of Krakow in October with the participation of, among others, UEFA president Michel Platini. (di/pg)