Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday that he had called for “urgent diplomatic action” to clarify the circumstances surrounding the arrest of two players from the Legia Warsaw football club by Dutch police, following a Cup match. of Europe against AZ Alkmaar.
On Thursday evening, two Legia players – Portugal’s Josué and Serbia’s Radovan Pankov – were escorted from their team bus and taken to the police station after the Europa Conference League match which ended in defeat 1 -0 from Legia. According to the Polish club, the two players were still at the police station on Friday.
“Polish players and fans must be treated in accordance with the law. There is no agreement to violate it,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki proclaimed on his X account (formerly Twitter), describing the information coming from Alkmaar as “very worrying”.
According to Polish journalists present, the situation became confusing when local police and security services decided to detain the Legia players’ bus inside the stadium after the match, citing fear for their safety. Tensions arose, giving rise to verbal altercations and shoving, with the Dutch police eventually intervening inside the vehicle.
According to Polish media, the owner and president of Legia, Dariusz Mioduski, was pushed by the police, who pushed him to the ground and broke his phone, with which he was recording the events. “What happened is a real scandal,” Mioduski responded. “This is a global precedent. The team was shocked by what happened, because no one had ever had such an experience.”
For the return match, on December 14 in Warsaw, “Alkmaar supporters are welcome in Poland. We are going to show what safety, hospitality and a good atmosphere look like,” he continued.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski, for his part, clarified on Friday on X that his services were analyzing whether “the Dutch police and employees of the AZ Alkmaar club broke the law against Polish citizens (.. .) because of their nationality.
The Polish Football Federation (PZPN) indicated that it had requested explanations from the Dutch Federation and UEFA.