Media: Prosecutor’s Office files charges against Zbigniew Boniek. It concerns an investigation concerning the Polish Football Association
As Szymon Jadczak, a journalist from Wirtualna Polska, informed, Zbigniew Boniek heard charges from the prosecutor’s office. An investigation is being conducted into sponsorship agreements signed by the Polish Football Association.
Zbigniew Boniek was the president of the Polish Football Association for two terms (2012–2021). He is currently the vice-president of UEFA. According to information provided by Wirtualna Polska, on September 2, Boniek was charged with committing a crime by a prosecutor from the West Pomeranian Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Szczecin. It is about acting to the detriment of the Polish Football Association.
The prosecutor’s office provides information about Boniek
“The prosecutor accused the suspect of causing significant financial damage to the PZPN in the period from November 2014 to August 2021, as the president of the Polish Football Association, acting jointly and in agreement with other persons, in excess of PLN 1 million in connection with a sponsorship agreement,” explains prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, spokesman for the National Prosecutor’s Office, in an interview with Wirtualna Polska.
The case in question has already received wide media coverage in the past. Back in 2021, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, the Central Anticorruption Bureau entered the headquarters of the Polish Football Association. At that time, documentation and digital media were secured. Then, in November 2022, the CBA detained, among others, Jakub T., a former member of the PZPN board, and Maciej Sawicki, former secretary general of the association. At that time, Sawicki swore that he had not acted to the detriment of the association and at the same time considered this accusation absurd.
Boniek, however, has not made an official comment to the media after his questioning at the prosecutor’s office. He faces up to 10 years in prison. The case is still to go to court by the end of the year.
Boniek added one entry
The current UEFA vice-president commented on the whole matter only on platform X. He does not appear to be very concerned about the accusations from the prosecutor, but most likely referred more to the attitude of the WP journalist.
“I’ve been bothered by a journalist for three days now. Phone calls, whatsapp and so on. So to give him a break, I’ll give him a hint. No charges, just a made-up political accusation. No security, just hello and goodbye. Maybe that will calm him down,” Boniek wrote.
