Polish Olympic chief arrested in crypto-linked graft probe

Police arrested the head of the Polish Olympic Committee on Thursday on suspicion that he took bribes from a crypto trader in return for sponsorship deals, officials said.

Radosław Piesiewicz, who is considered close to Poland's nationalist right, is suspected of receiving kickbacks from Zondacrypto, which the government accuses of having links to nationalist opposition groups, organised crime and Russian intelligence services.

"Radosław Piesiewicz has been arrested," Poland's Sports Minister Jakub Rudnicki confirmed in a post on X.

"Such a person should never have been president of the Polish Olympic Committee...Piesiewicz has discredited Polish Olympics," he added.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski described Piesiewicz as a "symbol of the extreme corruption plaguing the Olympic movement."

He said Piesiewicz's election as head of the Olympic committee had been backed by the former government, led by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Authorities launched an investigation in April, which prompted most of Poland's sports federations to call for Piesiewicz's resignation.

Crypto prizes for athletes

They said Piesiewicz was responsible for signing a sponsorship agreement for the Olympic committee with Zondacrypto, a crypto fund which has stopped trading.