They have the right. They sponsor the Polish team.

But if they didn’t sponsor the team, there were also their advertisements and billboards. They advertised at Croatian national team matches.

Can you confirm that some sponsors are asking for explanations?

I don’t confirm. Nobody asked me personally. There was perhaps one general inquiry about our activities to acquire new sponsors, but no one asked for translations or explanations.

On Wednesday, Sports Minister Sławomir Nitras said on Radio Zet that no state money would go to bonuses for football players. It is good or bad? I have not heard the minister’s statement, so I will not comment on it. Every minister has the right to express his own opinion.

What is the president’s opinion on bonuses for football players financed from public money?

We have clear bonus procedures. This is an agreement reached by the team council. Everything is known in advance and there is no way there will be any misunderstandings. Nobody expects additional funds apart from those we can get from UEFA.

Will Robert Lewandowski play against Austria from the first minute?

He participated in full training on Wednesday. He was active, just like Dawidowicz and Świderski. Everyone is back, training normally and will probably be at the coach’s disposal. We have one more training session ahead of us. We’ll know more after that.

Until what time did you stay up after the match against the Netherlands?

I was calm. We could have drawn, but the goals were scored because of mistakes, we made them. We conceded a goal out of nowhere. Earlier we could have scored, Jakub Kiwior had the situation at 2-1. Then Karol Świderski could have equalized the score. If he had known that Adam Buksa was behind him, he might have passed the ball. Nicola Zalewski shot hard into the middle of the goal. If she had gone to the side, the goalkeeper probably wouldn’t have saved it. But not everything falls into place.

How did you feel after this match?

Insufficiency. There were seven minutes left in regular time. But I also felt that the team was really starting to play and it looked nice. The Dutch are not average.

Marco Van Basten said after the play-offs that Poland did not like to play football, and before the match, the former director of our national team, Jan DeZeeuw, argued that the Netherlands did not even have to field a goalkeeper. Didn’t you take that as disrespect?

It came to my attention, but I don’t want to comment on it, because when someone says such nonsense… Why didn’t De Zeeuw heal Polish football when he was sports director? When he took money, it was cool. And he didn’t complain. If coach Probierz wanted to hire him, everything would probably be OK.

The match against the Netherlands showed that there is life without Lewandowski?

If Robert is not there, we will not lie down to anyone and we will not give up the match. The team will play to the best of its ability. I am convinced that if Lewandowski had played against the Netherlands, the result could have been reversed. You know how creative a footballer is. He would open the way to the goal for others. And if Robert is gone, there will be other strikers who will try to fulfill the tasks.

Did Michał Probierz surprise you as a coach? He was perceived as a very pragmatic coach, but the team is playing nice football.

Michał is an ambitious trainer and knows what he is doing. He knows his craft. He defended himself with good work. People appreciate his good moves and proper management of the national team.

Can you imagine that we will change the coach after the tournament?

Coach Probierz did not report that he would have any injury after the championship. His cruciate ligaments will fail. He looked very good in training and once made a great cross.

In all seriousness, Touchstone is currently under contract. And we are now focusing on the Euro.

At the World Championships in Qatar, we heard from the mouth of the then coach Czesław Michniewicz that style did not matter. Now the team is praised for their courageous play. So what’s the deal with this style? Is he important to you?

PZPN, just like the fans, would like the team to play beautifully and effectively. This doesn’t always go hand in hand. Sometimes you have to adapt to your opponent. Czesiu Michniewicz did his job – he got out of the group and kept us in the Nations League. Now maybe no one notices.

Touchstone didn’t have much time to prepare the team for the tournament. Is hiring Fernando Santos the biggest mistake of your career?

It’s the same situation as with club transfers – if you make a lot of them, some will always fail. We thought Santos was among the top three or five best coaches in Europe. He had very great achievements. It didn’t work out, the match against Moldova was the final straw. Both within the PZPN management board and from outside, I had voices that perhaps he should not continue to lead the team.

In turn, after Santos’ farewell, Marek Papszun’s name became very fashionable. There was a lot of pressure to hire him. I had a heavy burden of responsibility. I could have taken the easy way and chosen Papszun, whom 70 or 80 percent of people in Poland wanted. There wouldn’t be such hate.

Do you feel that the European Championships are a new beginning for the national team?

Yes, but it needs to be confirmed with results. It is said that sometimes they drop you off, drop you off, and then forget to catch you.

Maybe then we are too excited about the match against the Netherlands? The Slovaks won against Belgium, the Czechs stood up to Portugal. Our expectations before the tournament were very low.

Almost 40 million people live in Poland. We expect the national team to play at their best. For this to happen, we must create the conditions for it. And the staff has them. But what are the training pitches like in Poland? I have been to all provinces. Sometimes four groups of kids train on one pitch. One group per quarter.

Take a walk around Hannover. Many pitches, very good conditions. What about us? Let me give you an example: the Białystok Academy. I ask: which academy? There are 2.5 pitches there! One full-size and an additional half occupied by the first team. One artificial surface was allocated for the academy. So who will you train?

How many sports fields are there in Warsaw? I was in Białołęka, 140 thousand. inhabitants. Activists came and said: “President, we don’t have a single full-size pitch.” Where are we?! Let’s create first, and then demand. Travel around Europe and check what academies there are in other countries.

You say that we don’t have academies and pitches. Who is responsible for this?

You won’t find the culprit. Someone made a mistake. We have very nice stadiums, but there should be a condition: if you build a facility, you must have three or four training pitches around. This would be cool for kids. There should also be five or six pitches around the National Stadium. As PZPN, we work to the best of our abilities. We will not build thirty or forty academies.

Let’s get back to the topic of Euro 2024. Are you following the news whether Kylian Mbappe will make it to the match against Poland? I can follow and I won’t find out the truth. Only a small group of doctors and the trainer know it. And what appears in the press is often the opposite of reality.

Before the European Championships, Mbappe delivered a political manifesto at a press conference. What would your reaction be if Robert Lewandowski did the same? A footballer is only there to play, should he speak out on social issues?

Football players should speak up, but only if something concerns football. Apparently Mbappe has the right to do such things. No matter what he says, they won’t do anything to him.

Lewandowski probably has a similar status in our country. If he started talking about politics, would you intervene?

I wouldn’t say anything. If Robert wanted to talk about politics, he would have done so a long time ago. I don’t tell any player what to do. But it seems to me that if someone were to comment, it would be about football. And when he finishes his career, you can go into politics.

What match do you expect against Austria? The Austrians are a tough opponent. They are out, they fight until the end, they come out strong on the counterattack. We have to be vigilant throughout the match. Austria plays very hard, they received five yellow cards against France. Antoine Griezmann landed on the boards with a cut head. Kylian Mbappe broke his nose. And there were a few more short circuits.

What will be the result of Friday’s clash?

I would like us to win. Even by one goal. However, I will keep my fingers crossed. We are very grateful to our fans for their support. In the match against Austria they will certainly be our twelfth player.