Unfortunately, this is not a joke. The journalist revealed a letter from the Polish Football Association
– At first it made me laugh, then it terrified me, and now it makes me laugh again – Piotr Żelazny tells us. He received a “call to immediately remove the effects of the violation of PZPN’s personal rights.” The Polish Football Association did not directly answer our questions.
Maciej Kmita
Getty Images / NurPhoto / In the photo: Cezary Kulesza and Piotr Żelazny’s tweet
This is the result of the scandal revealed by WP SportoweFakty involving Mirosław Stasiak in the official delegation of the Polish Football Association for the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Moldova (2:3) in Chisinau. More HERE. After Szymon Jadczak’s publication, other editorial offices in the country began to take a closer look at activists’ trips to national team meetings
“When returning from Chisinau, the players were disgusted by the behavior of some guests invited by the Polish Football Association. They were drunk and harassing our team members,” wrote Łukasz Olkowicz in “Przegląd Sportowy Onet”. The players were, among others: asked for photos. – Not only were the players angry after the defeat, but they also felt like teddy bears on Krupówki – added his interlocutor (more HERE).
In reaction to this Łukasz Wachowski said in an interview with sport.pl that the Polish Football Association will change the procedures regarding the travel of the official delegation with the national team: – From the next departure, the players will use a different terminal than the sponsors’ representatives, guests and PZPN employees. More HERE.
And here we come to Piotr Żelazny’s tweet, which, according to the PZPN representative, “violates the personal rights of the PZPN.” “Can the union, whose major reform consists in allowing drunk activists to enter the plane through a different entrance, create appropriate working conditions for anyone?” – a famous journalist asked on September 12 on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
Can the union, whose major reform consists in allowing drunk activists to enter the plane through a different entrance, create appropriate working conditions for anyone?
Spotify: https://t.co/rIRjU5i20Q— Piotr Żelazny (@ZelaznyPiotr) September 12, 2023
More than two months after the publication of this tweet, on November 17, Żelazny received a letter “calling to immediately stop the violations and remove the effects of the violations of personal rights.” The representative of the Polish Football Association called on the journalist to delete the entry and publish an apology. The journalist is not going to do this.
– At first, after opening the letter, I wondered if it was some kind of joke. At first it made me laugh, then it terrified me, and now it makes me laugh again. In the sense of: “Really?” In some alternative reality I would like to experience this process. In an alternative way, because I don’t have time, inclination or space for it. If it happened, it could be a real joke – says WP SportoweFakty Żelazny.
– I don’t know what the Polish Football Association would like to prove to me. I was accused that “the president of the Polish Football Association, Cezary Kulesza, does not tolerate drunks in his environment.” The latest trips of the Polish national team show that it is exactly the opposite. And now we would try to outdo each other in calling witnesses? I would call on people who were with the national team and messed up, and the PZPN would do the opposite? This is absurd, he adds.
Interestingly, the tweet, which the PZPN representative calls for deletion, reached less than 13,000 people (according to the official statistics of the X platform). recipients. In turn, Żelazny’s post with the call has already been viewed by over a million people, and the counter is still counting. Therefore, it seems that the Polish Football Association has achieved the opposite effect to that intended.
– I didn’t even think for a second about deleting the tweet or posting an apology. I believe this is an acceptable criticism of the union’s actions. I have been following PZPN as a journalist for 20 years. I reviewed the work of Michał Listkiewicz, Grzegorz Lata and Zbigniew Boniek, and Cezary Kulesza’s PZPN is the first to threaten me with legal action for hyperbole and mockery of the union. I have no intention of apologizing for anything, Żelazny repeats.
– If the president of the Polish Football Association officially approved such an action, it proves his pettiness and ignorance of the media and social media. If people responsible for the image of the Polish Football Association can do such things on behalf of the president of the Polish Football Association, this is probably not the way to go. He should probably watch their hands more because they are doing stupid things – adds our interlocutor.
On Sunday morning we sent to Tomasz Kozłowski, director of the PZPN communication department, questions regarding the matter. After two hours, Kozłowski responded by sending us to the message published on the X platform:
— PZPN (@pzpn_pl) November 19, 2023
Due to the fact that the Polish Football Association did not provide direct answers to the questions asked, we publish them below:
1. In the opinion of the Polish Football Association and its representatives, how does Piotr Żelazny’s tweet quoted in the “Request…” “violate the personal rights of the Polish Football Association”?
2. Have the PZPN’s representatives sent more such “Calls…” to journalists, but only editor Żelazny has so far revealed the one addressed to himself?
3. Has the Polish Football Association commissioned its representatives to constantly monitor journalists’ social media, their publications in traditional media and their appearances in television/radio/internet programs for possible violations of personal rights?
4. Doesn’t the Polish Football Association consider the action of its representative regarding Editor Żelazny’s tweet to be counterproductive? The tweet, which is alleged to violate the personal rights of the Polish Football Association, reached (according to platform X statistics) less than 12,000 people. people, and after the publication of “Call…” its content reached 910,000. recipients. (data from the time the questions were sent – editor’s note)
5. Is the president of the Polish Football Association, Cezary Kulesza, who declared in an interview with “Gazeta Polska” in September 2021 that “he will not threaten journalists with court”, aware of how the PZPN’s proxies work and whether he was aware that such a “summons. ..” was sent to Żelazny’s editor?
Maciej Kmita, journalist of WP SportoweFakty
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