Polish PSL demands Piesiewicz’s removal as Olympic committee chief, launches “shame counter”

Poland’s People’s Party, or PSL, has launched a “Piesiewicz shame counter” while demanding the resignation of Radosław Piesiewicz as president of the Polish Olympic Committee. The online counter tracks the time since his arrest in a criminal investigation linked to the cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto.

Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka said athletes felt “embarrassed and tarnished” by Piesiewicz’s continued leadership of the committee. He said the resignation demand was being made on behalf of Polish athletes and people who wanted to protect Poland’s reputation. Motyka also argued that Piesiewicz should never have held the position.

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Athletes feel embarrassed and tarnished that someone like Mr. Piesiewicz is the head of the Polish Olympic Committee.

PSL lawmaker Ireneusz Raś referred to Zondacrypto’s role as a sponsor of the Olympic committee. He accused Piesiewicz of using the image of Polish champions to build authority and credibility for what he called a financial pyramid. Raś said the case had caused thousands of family tragedies and urged Piesiewicz’s supporters to admit they had backed the wrong person.

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We demand this resignation on behalf of Polish athletes and on behalf of Polish women and men who want Poland to have a good name.

Zondacrypto was announced as the committee’s general sponsor at a joint news conference in Monaco on Oct. 22, 2025. The agreement was intended to run through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with medal bonuses for the Milan-Cortina Winter Games set to double from 2024 levels and paid half in cash and half in tokens. Piesiewicz said in April that the committee would terminate the agreement if another payment did not arrive by the end of the month. On April 30, officials decided to remove the sponsor’s neon sign from the committee’s Warsaw headquarters.

Piesiewicz was arrested the previous week in proceedings opened by the Katowice Regional Prosecutor’s Office in April. The investigation concerns allegations of high-value fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors accuse him of paid influence and of satisfying a group of Zondacrypto creditors at the expense of others while insolvency threatened. Piesiewicz denies the allegations, and a court approved prosecutors’ request for detention.

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He used the image of Polish champions to build authority and credibility for this financial pyramid.