The Polish Football Association (PZPN) has hired a man accused by prosecutors of being part of a neo-Nazi criminal gang as a security guard for its men’s national team, including star player Robert Lewandowski.
The head of the PZPN, Cezary Kulesza, has confirmed that employing the bodyguard – named only as Dominik G. under Polish privacy law – was his idea but says he was unaware of the charges against him.
Dominik G., ps. Grucha, którego @pzpn_pl zatrudnił jako ochroniarza @lewy_official podczas zgrupowań reprezentacji #Polska, jest oskarżony o udział w zorganizowanej grupie przestępczej – ustaliła @wirtualnapolska.
✒️ @SzJadczak pic.twitter.com/Hko4EFSHNd
— Wirtualna Polska (@wirtualnapolska) November 9, 2022
In an investigation published this week, news outlet Wirtualna Polska reported that police found neo-fascist and racist material in Dominik G.’s home during a search. Promoting fascism is a crime in Poland.
The news outlet published pictures purporting to show Dominik G. standing next to men giving a fascist salute, one with an image of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy Führer, on his t-shirt. Others men are wearing clothing saying “Skinhead”.
The report also cited prosecutors as saying that Dominik G. was a leading figure in a criminal gang in the city of Białystok associated with local football club Jagiellonia and which was involved in abductions, earning money from prostitution, and promoting fascism.
Dominik G. confirmed to Wirtualna Polska that he is on trial but said that he denies the charges against him and noted that he personally has not been charged with promoting fascism or inciting racial hatred.
Ten tekst powstał dzięki informacjom od Was. Wy podrzuciliście trop, ja go sprawdziłem (trochę to trwało, ale temat wrażliwy), dziś temat się ukazuje. Bardzo dziękuję wszystkim, którzy pomogli. Razem możemy więcej. https://t.co/RVkVChjEBQ pic.twitter.com/2cWuuOetbr
— Szymon Jadczak (@SzJadczak) November 9, 2022
PZPN chief Kulesza, a former player for Jagiellonia Białystok and later the club’s CEO, told Wirtualna Polska that he knows Dominik G. and believed him to be suitable for the security role he was given. He said that the Polish national team’s manager, Czesław Michniewicz, and Lewandowski were also happy with him.
Kulesza also noted that Dominik G. has no criminal record and said that he only learnt of the accusations against him from Wirtualna Polska.
He refused to answer questions about whether a person accused of being part of such a criminal gang was suitable to be hired as a security guard for the team, which will fly to Qatar later this month to compete in the FIFA World Cup.
Michniewicz – who named his squad for the tournament on Thursday – also refused to discuss the criminal charges against Dominik G.. But he confirmed that the bodyguard had done a “fantastic” and “professional” job “looking after Robert [Lewandowski] and the team”, reports TVP Sport.
Mian image credit: Maciej Śmiarowski/KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Peter Kononczuk is senior editor at Notes from Poland. He was previously a journalist for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in London and Warsaw.
