The International Olympic Committee expects Poland’s Olympic authorities to quickly resolve a leadership crisis following the arrest of Polish Olympic Committee president Radoslaw Piesiewicz. According to an internal letter circulated among PKOl members, three scenarios are being considered. The option viewed as the most favorable is Piesiewicz’s voluntary resignation.
Three scenarios for the Polish Olympic Committee
The details emerged from a letter sent by PKOl vice-president Tomasz Chamera to members of the committee after contacts with the International Olympic Committee. According to the document, the IOC sees three possible ways out of the current crisis.
The first would be Piesiewicz stepping down voluntarily. Chamera described this as the most favorable solution because it would remove uncertainty surrounding the leadership of the Polish Olympic Committee. Piesiewicz has denied the allegations against him and has said that the case is politically motivated.
The second scenario would involve the Polish Olympic Committee resolving the matter internally. Its governing bodies could take steps to suspend or remove the president and appoint someone able to exercise the committee’s powers while the criminal proceedings continue.
The third and most serious possibility would be direct intervention by the IOC if the Polish committee failed to restore effective governance on its own. Such a move could ultimately affect the status and rights of the Polish Olympic Committee within the international Olympic movement.
IOC says Poland needs an authorised leader
The IOC has confirmed publicly that it remains in contact with the Polish Olympic Committee. In a statement reported by Polish media, the organisation said it understood that PKOl was considering the necessary steps under its own statutes and expected to be informed about the outcome.
The issue is particularly important because the president normally represents the Polish Olympic Committee externally and oversees its work. Polish legal experts note, however, that the organisation’s statutes provide mechanisms for transferring presidential duties when the incumbent is unable to perform them.
A meeting of the PKOl executive is scheduled for September 8. Some members are also calling for the full board to meet on the same day so that formal decisions about the committee’s leadership can be taken.
Piesiewicz held in custody for three months
Piesiewicz was detained in late August in an investigation connected with the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto. A court subsequently ordered that he be held in pre-trial detention for three months.
Prosecutors have accused him of influence peddling and allege that he accepted a luxury watch worth about EUR 40,000 in return for assistance concerning a matter involving Poland’s competition authority. Piesiewicz denies wrongdoing. The allegations have not been proven in court.
The case has an additional connection to Polish sport because the Polish Olympic Committee announced Zondacrypto as a sponsor in October 2025.
Suspension would be the most damaging scenario
There is currently no decision to suspend the Polish Olympic Committee or exclude Polish athletes from the Olympic Games. Reports about such an outcome concern a potential consequence only if the governance crisis remained unresolved and the IOC eventually decided to intervene.
The more immediate issue is the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. A prolonged dispute over who is authorised to represent PKOl could create organisational complications, while a wider suspension would carry substantially more serious consequences.
For now, the pressure is therefore on the Polish Olympic Committee to resolve the leadership question internally. The correspondence disclosed in Poland indicates that, from the IOC’s perspective, Piesiewicz’s resignation would be the simplest way to close the crisis.
Sources: IOC statements reported by Polish media, Przeglad Sportowy Onet, PAP, TVP World.
