They’ve been called hooligans and terrorists by officials from PZPN, Poland’s soccer association.
But the soccer fans say they are fed up with corrupt PZPN leadership they claim is holding back Polish soccer and has led to humiliating defeats during a failed qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The End PZPN initiative has some 280,000 registered members on its Web site koniecpzpn.pl, and has already boycotted one qualifier against Slovakia that they say cost the association sales of up to 20,000 tickets.
End PZPN wants delegates to give PZPN board members a vote of no confidence at their next meeting in December, which would lead to a free election for new association leaders.
Their Web site says it is no longer enough to chant “[expletive] PZPN” during games, and calls for fans to band together and not let PZPN “ruin Polish soccer and bring us shame.”
Fans say scandals and corruption are pushing sponsors away and halting the sport’s development.
Anti-PZPN chants, laced with insults and curses, have been shouted for months from stadium stands.
The anger isn’t new. Fans have been frustrated for years with the association marred by scandals and corruption, End PZPN founder Filip Gielecinski said.
Most recently, Sports Minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki resigned on Oct. 9 after allegations that he lobbied on behalf of gambling companies to block a law calling for higher taxes.
More than 310 people have been detained in an ongoing corruption probe that has brought charges against referees, officials and members of the soccer federation.
But fans’ tempers soared when PZPN dismissed coach Leo Beenhakker last month after a 3-0 defeat in Slovenia that ended any hopes the Poles had of qualifying for the World Cup.
The Dutch coach, who took Poland to the European championships last year, said he learned of his dismissal from a reporter. He later said the recently elected PZPN leadership tried to manipulate him while offering little support to bring change in the sport.
“Beenhakker instilled in us that spirit that we can achieve great things, though we had no great stars,” Gielecinski told reporters. “But what could he have done when PZPN officials made his life difficult at every step.”
Former player Stefan Majewski assumed the role of interim coach.
The Web site was launched days after Beenhakker’s dismissal by three soccer fans in Krakow.
“That was the moment when the frustration reached its zenith, and we fans started to speak with one voice and say we have had enough and we want changes,” Gielecinski said. “And what’s important is that we’re getting support from more well-known people like Polish actors, TV producers and musicians.”
Sponsors are also slowly signing up or taking sides.
Bank BZ WBK recently pulled its ads from a stadium in Chorzow during the World Cup qualifiers. The bank said in a statement it “cannot be blind to the lack of understanding with soccer fans, to growing mutual aggression, on turning away and disregarding people who love soccer.”
PZPN head Grzegorz Lato said on Monday that a group would be formed late this month to deal with relations with fans.
But fans say the new PZPN leadership, which took power last October, had a chance to rule for one year and fulfill its promises.
In his acceptance speech last year, Lato called for officials to work toward making Polish soccer clear of corruption.
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