While most sports have been shut down amid a coronavirus outbreak, on Wednesday a senior Polish official said the government was planning to cautiously relax a swathe of restrictions imposed on daily life amid the pandemic.
That same day, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Sports Minister Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk and the head of the Polish Football Association (PZPN), Zbigniew Boniek, got together to talk about how sports in the country could be put back on track once the Covid-19 outbreak subsides, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
One of the topics discussed was preparations by Polish athletes for next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo and the European football championships, according to the news agency.
Both these events were originally scheduled to be held this year, but have been pushed back to 2021 because of the coronavirus.
Morawiecki, Dmowska-Andrzejuk and Boniek also discussed the situation of the Polish national football squad and the prospect of reopening the country’s Ekstraklasa top-flight football league when they met in Warsaw on Wednesday, IAR reported.
While no decisions were communicated to the media after the meeting, the Polish prime minister took to Twitter to say that "sports will play an important role in returning to normal" life once the worst of the coronavirus outbreak is over.
Meanwhile, Boniek, the top man in Polish soccer, tweeted: “The will is there, but the logistics are not easy.”
Dmowska-Andrzejuk said in an interview earlier this week that, despite the coronavirus crisis, Polish athletes preparing for the Olympic Games did not need to worry about money to finance their training.
Poland's Sports Minister Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk. Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, PAP