State firms terminate cooperation with Polish Olympic Committee

Four major Polish state firms have terminated agreements with the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl) and a fifth – Poland’s main Olympic sponsor, Orlen – has suspended payments while it reviews continued cooperation.

The decisions come after Poland this summer recorded its worst Olympic medal haul since 1956 and the PKOl faced accusations of misspending funds and failing to properly support athletes. That has led to criticism of the organisation by the government.

Poland has finished @Paris2024 with just one gold and 10 medals in total – its worst result since 1956.

The prime minister has suggested there are failings in how Polish sport is managed. But the head of the Olympic committee has blamed the government https://t.co/iS9OqF1RuB

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 11, 2024

On Tuesday, PKP Intercity, Poland’s main rail operator, announced that it was terminating its sponsorship agreement with PKOl, which had been due to run until 2027.

The firm said it had “lost confidence” in PKOl after the Olympic committee “failed to provide all the services specified in the sponsorship agreement…resulting in marketing losses for PKP Intercity”.

The rail operator also said that “controversy around PKOI members in the media space…undermines the media image of PKP Intercity built over the years”. That was an allusion to claims that the PKOl had treated its members better than athletes and support staff during the Olympics.

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Separately, Polish Airports (PPL), the state firm that manages Poland’s airports, confirmed in a statement to broadcaster Radio Zet that it had ended an agreement with the PKOl.

The firm did not give any further details, but Radio Zet reported that the arrangement had given PKOl members access to VIP services at Polish airports. It said that members of PKOl president Radosław Piesiewicz’s family had used the service dozens of times, whereas it was not available to Polish athletes flying to Paris.

However, PKOl spokeswoman Katarzyna Kochaniak-Roman responded by announcing that the termination has “no legal effect” because “the contract itself provides for specific reasons for its termination, and these have not arisen”.

Today, two other state firms – energy group Enea and food producer KGS – also announced the termination of their sponsorship agreements with PKOl, reports Business Insider Polska. Both cited business considerations, without providing specific reasons for the decision.

Meanwhile, energy firm Orlen – Poland’s largest company and PKOl’s biggest sponsor – announced that it has suspended sponsorship payments due to “controversy surrounding the actions of the PKOl board and president Radosław Piesiewicz”. It will now review whether to continue cooperation.

Koncern Orlen wstrzymał przelewy sponsoringowe na rzecz PKOL. Powód – kontrowersje wokół zarządu PKOL.
Orlen jest od 2017 roku sponsorem strategicznym PKOL. @RadioZET_NEWS pic.twitter.com/Cdmhw4Gv3S

— Mariusz Gierszewski (@MariuszGierszew) September 10, 2024

After the Paris Olympics – at which Poland one just a single gold and only ten medals in total – the government criticised the PKOl and promised to review the management of Polish sport. Some athletes also complained that they had received little support in preparing for the games.

Last week, sports minister Sławomir Nitras appealed to the PKOl to disclose the salary of its president, Piesiewicz, after media reports suggested he was receiving over 100,000 zloty (€23,330) per month. That would be more than the president of the International Olympic Committee, noted Nitras.

“I would like the [PKOl] members to know that their authority and the level of public trust decreases in direct proportion to the time it takes them to explain all these issues,” said Nitras.

Two audits are currently underway at PKOl, one being carried out on the orders of Warsaw’s mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, and the other by the National Tax Administration (KAS). Nitras has also announced an audit of the PKOl by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), but this has not yet started.

Wydaje mi, że władze @pkolpl bagatelizują sprawę. Tracą czas. Dalszy brak szybkiego ujawnienia wszystkich informacji, których się domagam, domagają się sponsorzy oraz przede wszystkim opinia publiczna grozi finansowej stabilności Komitetu. To nie leży w niczyim interesie.

— Slawomir Nitras (@SlawomirNitras) September 10, 2024

Main image credit: Grzegorz Celejewski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent.