New evidence in the Polish football corruption affair

New evidence in the ongoing investigation into rampant corruption in Polish football has shed light on the case, confirming that people involved in the affair were acting like a ‘real mafia.’

The prosecutor’s office has found new evidence in the case thanks to the investigation work done by Przeglad Sportowy, who revealed the lists of calls made by the suspects from Arka Gdynia, a team promoted to Premiere League, the top division of Polish football for the season 2008- 2009. The materials show how extensive the criminal network was.

Ryszard F., nicknamed ‘Fryzjer’ (Hairdresser), the former football activist, currently on trial, as well as a head of the referees Marian D. and a member of the Polish Football Association board Henryk Klocek used to convince referees to accept bribes given by the heads of Arka Gdynia, Jacek M. and the team leader Wieslaw K.

A detailed analysis of the gathered data has proved that those involved were aware of the risk they were taking – they changed their mobile phone cards regularly to hamper the actions of the police.

Przeglad Sportowy has described in detail all the corruption methods applied by the culprits – which included phone calls made by many of them during one of the fixed matches, after which Wieslaw K. is accused of having bribed a referee to the tune of 5,000 zlotys (1200 euro).

The investigation on corruption in Polish football has been underway since May 2005.

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