News from Poland

Urban: I will stay in Legia Warszawa

Wed, 21 May 2008 02:02:42 -0500

If Osasuna sack Jose Angel Ziganda, Jan Urban will be one of the candidates to be his successor.

- I have a three-year contract with Legia. Only this matters - says the coach of the Warsaw team

-The agreement between Legia and coach Urbanem will not be cancelled. Both sides would need to want that. We are pleased with his work and do not assume a change of the coach - adds the president of Legia Leszek Miklas. - We know that Urban has a great sentiment for a club from Pampeluna, because he spent many years there. But if he wishes to depart from Legia and Legia does not want to let him go, he would have to pay a compensation. Also Warsaw club would have to pay him compensation if he'd been sacked by the year 2011. Spanish journalists believe that Urban will get an offer from Osasuna in case of Ziganda's dismissal. A word "candidate" in this case is very capacious. This does not mean that the one, who may be of interest to a club, is actually interested.

Urban was Osasuna player, then he was the coach of youth teams (with one of them he won the Championship of Spain), then managed a team of reserves. He is regarded as the best foreign player in the whole history of the club. Before the start of last season, he hoped that he would coach the first team. Although he is very appreciated there, he got no chance. They had selected Ziganda. Urban tried to find a club in Poland. Firstly he treated with Wisła Kraków, finally he came to Legia. From Osasuna he brought an assistant - José Antonio Vicuna and - on a loan - a defender Inaki Astiz. The defender after a very successful season in Legia is likely to return to Spain. Urban is on a leave, and then he goes to Polish national team preparation camp, where he is to be one of the helpers for Leo Beenhakker before and during the Euro.

- If you talk about me in the context of Osasuna, it is very nice. But I am used to the situations, that the newspaper writes about different things. Roger retires from Legia... We buy this or that player... I haven't got any offers yet and I am not going to think about what would be if I had got one. I am very satisfied with the work with Legia, I am still here for a three-year contract. And Ziganda has kept Osasuna in Primera Division. Let's wait and see, whether he's going to be sacked at all - he says. The situation in the Spanish club is to be clarified by the end of the week.

Urban made his debut in Poland as a coach in the league and immediately with success. Legia under his leadership took second place in Orange Ekstraklasa, won the Polish Cup and played in the Orange Ekstraklasa Cup finals. He got a lot of new young players for Legia. More than ever before in the history of the club.

- We had a very successful season, but now we have to do next step forward. I don't believe that such a club as Legia again fails to make any transfers. And not only such transfers that would allow us to replenish the squad, but also transfers that would make us stronger - Urban believes.

- We will do whatever we can to help our coach in his work. In the next season he will work with us. No negotiations are conducted with Osasuna about this - President Miklas says. - Coach Urban has still a lot to prove together with Legia.

Transfer hits of Polish Premier League

Mon, 19 May 2008 15:10:04 -0500

Several leading players of Orange Ekstraklasa end their contracts in June, others do not want to play longer in their teams, hoping for more money elsewhere, yet others wish to leave because their clubs have been degraded for taking part in corruption big stink and will start a new season a division or even two lower.
Activists of which clubs will therefore be the most determined, which will be able to afford bringing together league players of the greatest value? Below there are listed a few players certainly worth a try. Moreover, all these players have been targeted not only the strongest Polish clubs, but they're under the watchful eye of the Western managers. Two of them have a chance to go to EURO 2008, which can make them even more expensive in summer.

ADRIAN SIKORA - He will play, wherever he'll be guaranteed half a million EUR p.a.

Zbigniew Drzymała offered him 400 thousand EUR for playing in Śląsk Wrocław. Player would have agreed long time ago to extend the contract, if the amount was guaranteed. Groclin, however, wants Sikora to receive high entry fee, and the player fears that after some time he may lose place in the team.

ŁUKASZ GARGUŁA - Price: 600 thousand EUR

He's not desperate to go abroad, so in summer a real struggle for him will begin. The player makes no secret that he has enough of performances in Belchatow for quite a long time . And no wonder, since he has played there for 6 years already. Nobody puts sluice-gate price for him (2 million), so Legia Warszawa and Wisla Krakow will compete for him.

RADOSŁAW MAJEWSKI - No pressure

Managers of West Bromwich Albion are very interested in this 21-year-old footballer. The English are allegedly willing to spend on him 2.5 million EUR. Such an offer is too high for any Polish club, and Zbigniew Drzymała announced that he's not going to sell Majewski for less money.

UEFA will not help Legia

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:05:23 -0500

If the hooligans wearing Legia scarves will lead to a burd in the UEFA Cup matches, second team of Polish Premier League will be excluded from European competitions for at least two years. Even if the club will not have anything in common with them.

President of the Legia Warszawa - Leszek Miklas - has announced in the "Poland" newspaper, that the club will not in any way be involved in organizing trips to the UEFA Cup matches.

- We will just inform UEFA that we're not sending any supporters to away matches. If the fans choose to go on their own and start a riot, then the club will not be held liable - Miklas said.

Wrong! Article sixth of the UEFA disciplinary says that the club during cup matches takes responsibility for everyone: from the players to the supporters.

- It does not matter whether Legia will organize a trip or not, it will be involved. Just because the troublemakers will wear T-shirts and scarves with the logo of the club. It is enough to penalties - press office of UEFA representative ays.

What does this mean for Legia? Warsaw club was already excluded from European cup for two years after the riots at the Intertoto Cup match with Vetra Vilnius. The Appeals Board has suspended the execution of the sentence. But it had announced that if within five years it comes to incidents involving fans of Legia, the club wiould be treated more severely - it would have to pay 15 000 FRF and definitely would be excluded from the cups.

Beenhakker: This is a great shame for Poland

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:15:01 -0500

Michal Listkiewicz: - Nothing much has happened. Beenhakker: It is a great shame for Poland. Organizer, who is responsible for all this is not suited to this work. If I did something such stupid as a coach, I would have been sacked

In 77th minute of Polish Cup Final pseudofans of Legia Warszawa started to throw flares into the sector occupied by the supporters of Wisla Krakow. There have been fights, the match was interrupted for 10 minutes.

- This is a great shame for Poland. Polish football doesn't have a good image in the world anyway, do you think that these incidents will improve it? Anyone who was involved in organising the finals, should be ashamed. They could think reasonably and avoid a blame - says Leo Beenhakker. - The choice of the stadium was the first of errors. I respect residents of Bełchatów, I know that Poland does not have modern stadiums, but - for God's sake - everyone knows that there's a rivalry between hooligans of Legia and Wisla, they must be separated. One should be in the sector next to one goal, the others next to the second one. And here they couldn't be separated, because the sector next to one of the goals was being repaired. No, but someone has decided that the match would take place in Bełchatówand supporters sat next to each other ...

- I do not care whether it was Polish Football Association (PZPN) or PPPO [to decide about this], it shouldn't happen! Above all, I hear yet complaints of Wisla's coach Maciej Skorża that Wisla players who didn't manage to accomodate on the benches, had to sit in the stands among hooligans. This is just unthinkable! I say this, but the organizer, who is responsible for all of this, is just not suited for this work. If I did something such stupid as a coach, I would have been sacked. And it would be proper thing to sack me in such case. But here I see only shrugs: "It just happened."

Matches with only the one kind of beer?

Tue, 13 May 2008 18:12:35 -0500

During Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine fans watching matches on urban streets will probably drink a lot of beer. It is going to be, however, only one beer brand - the official sponsor of the championships. Such is the request of UEFA.

- Strict protection of trademarks, industrial designs and slogans will highlight the Polish-Ukrainian championships - ensures mec. Tomasz Zahorski from PL2012 company - preparations coordinator for the event.

Therefore, for example, beer gardens, where matches will be shown on the large telebeams will be managed only by the official sponsor of championships (we do not know yet, who it will be, EURO 2008 is sponsored by Carlsberg). Yesterday, in Poznan the representatives of Polish cities - host Euro 2012 were listening to Zahorski's words.

- In terms of protection of trademarks, industrial designs and exclusivity to sponsors and UEFA championships we will be more efficient than the Austrians and Swiss, who are organising the Euro this year - says Zahorski. - And we will not be waiting for UEFA intervention to show that its interests were affected.

This means that no one except for the official sponsors of Euro 2012 will not be able to use the characters championships - for example, logotype or the masscote. Above all, we will not be able to also use their product, which is the matches. This means that without a license from UEFA, no one will be able to show publicly Euro 2012 matches on screens larger than three-meter-diameter.

- And UEFA federation will not give it to anyone who is competing with its official sponsors - says Zahorski.

Matches on telebeams larger than three metres in beer gardens would then be able to show only the brewery, which is the official sponsor of the championships.

- We are surprised by this, but obviously we will show in our beer gardens only those sporting events to which we have the right - says Eliza Panek, spokeswoman for the group Zywiec. - Beer gardens have been, are and will be, because we did not put them only for the Euro. They serve the cause of creating a habit that there you watchsport. Without a concrete indication of the event and discipline.

Does this mean that all the breweries - except the official sponsor of Euro 2012 - will earn less than they might be expecting?

- You can not predict that, because on the one hand, the correlation between broadcasting the match and consumption of beer is obvious, but on the other - a particular viewer of the TV can buy whatever beer they like - says Eliza Panek.

Employees of PL2012 company already say that the European Championships in 2012 are going to get better organized in many ways than this June in Austria and Switzerland.

- They lacked coordination. Austrians acknowledge that because of its lack of effort they've wasted a lot of effort of different cities. They also got too little in negotiations with UEFA. We will do otherwise - provides Marcin Herra, President of PL2012. - The Euro is going to be in four years from now on, and we know already what we are going to do. For example, we're already planning to extend the subway route for the National Stadium. Austrians did the same in Vienna just before, three weeks before the event. We are at the stage of discussions about details, specific streets.