Piesiewicz urges Zondacrypto to reward Olympians

 

As calls for the Polish Olympic Committee chief to step down grow over a sponsorship deal signed with the cryptocurrency platform, the sports administrator promised this week to terminate the agreement should the company fail to transfer money it owes to athletes.

"If by April 30, as stipulated in the contract, the funds are not transferred to us, to PKOl, I have grounds to terminate the agreement and it will be terminated without cost, without any complications for PKOl," Radosław Piesiewicz told RMF FM. 

The head of the governing body had previously said that there were no grounds to terminate the sponsorship agreement signed in October 2025, despite ongoing investigations into the crypto trading company's liquidity and reports on unpaid rewards from several Team Poland athletes. Speed skater Damian Żurek said he could not cash out PLN 100,000 (€23,624) worth of tokens awarded for his performance at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, and ski jumper Kacper Tomasiak, a three-time Olympic medalist, faced the same problem with PLN 550,000 (€129,932).

Zondacrypto has been the Olympic Committee's main sponsor after several partnerships ended following accusations of financial misconduct within the organisation. The platform allows fans to directly support the Polish team through tokens and also announced an award system during the Milano Cortina Games, citing PLN 750,000 (€177,172) for gold medallists paid out in both cash and tokens from Zondacrypto. 

Earlier this month, Polish authorities launched an investigation focusing on fraud and investor losses after CEO Przemysław Kral was said to have departed for Israel, where his citizenship could prevent extradition. The chief executive has denied claims of a lack of funding, but revealed he does not have the key to a crypto wallet worth €280m because the company's former CEO, Sylwester Suszek, did not hand it over before disappearing in mysterious circumstances in 2022. 

Yet even after the financial company's questionable ability to operate, Piesiewicz initially did not cut ties with Zondacrypto, even as other sporting entities —like football clubs Raków Częstochowa and GKS Katowice, and basketball club Dziki Warszawa—have moved to end their sponsorship agreements with the enterprise. While the Olympic chief explained that the crypto platform was crucial to funding the Polish delegation's stint at Milano Cortina 2026, many argued that the deal was controversial from the start and was not made with the knowledge or approval of parts of the leadership.

After Piesiewicz decided to stick with Zondacrypto, 52 Polish sports federations demanded his resignation on Friday, with a letter citing the reputational damage caused by the partnership with Zondacrypto. Among the signatories is Adam Małysz, ski jumper and head of the Polish Ski Association. 

"We told (PKOL that Zondacrypto)was not a stable sponsor. The image of athletes has been damaged," Małysz told a press conference on Friday after a meeting with Poland's sports minister, Jakub Rutnicki, who has criticised Piesiewicz for signing the deal without consulting the committee's management board. Four-time Olympic champion race walker Robert Korzeniowski added that the deal with Zondacrypto had "caused serious reputational damage to the entire sports system." The athlete noted that "we are calling, as representatives of sports federations, for the immediate resignation of Radosław Piesiewicz as president of PKOl."

Piesiewicz made it clear on Republika TV on Saturday that he has no intention of doing so, but conceded that he would step down should other sports organisations' heads who have made deals with Zondacrypto do the same, naming Italian teams like Atalanta and Juventus, as well as those from Poland like Raków Częstochowa, GKS Katowice, Lechia Gdańsk, and Wieczysta Kraków. "If Minister Rutnicki persuades all the presidents of the clubs I mentioned, including the presidents of Atalanta and Juventus, and they resign, then I will consider whether to resign as well," he emphasised.