Polish Football Association

{{Short description|Sports governing body organizing association football in Poland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{National football association

| Logo = Polish Football Association logo.svg

| Badge_size = 150

| Short name = PZPN

| Founded = {{start date and age|1919|12|20|df=y}}{{cite web|title=History|url=https://www.pzpn.pl/en/association/history|publisher=Polish Football Association|access-date=2 January 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120010810/http://www.pzpn.pl/en/association/history|archive-date=20 January 2015}}

| FIFA affiliation = {{start date and age|1923|04|20|df=y}}

| Region = UEFA

| Region affiliation = {{start date and age|1955|03|02|df=y}}

| President = Cezary Kulesza

| Website = {{URL|https://www.pzpn.pl/}}

}}

The Polish Football Association ({{langx|pl|Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej;}} PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the {{lang|pl|Ekstraklasa|italic=no}}), the national cups, and manages the men's and women's national teams. It also runs the national futsal and beach soccer competitions. It is based in the Polish capital of Warsaw.

History

The fully-independent federation was established on 20 December 1919 subsuming the autonomous Polish Football Union (PFU) that was part of the disintegrated Austrian Football Union. The PFU was established on 25 June 1911 in Lwów, Austria-Hungary.{{cite web | url = http://www.ffu.org.ua/ukr/ffu/about/4941/ | script-title=uk:Колиска українського футболу | language = uk |trans-title=Cradle of Ukrainian football|first=Yuri|last=Korzachenko|publisher=Football Federation of Ukraine|date=12 January 2010}}

When the Wehrmacht invaded Poland in September 1939, all Polish institutions and associations were dissolved, including the PZPN. The German occupying forces forbade Poles to organise football matches.Thomas Urban, "Football 'Only for Germans', in the Underground and in Auschwitz: Championships in Occupied Poland“, in European Football During the Second World War. Ed. M. Herzog/F. Brändle. Oxford 2018, p. 367.

In September 2008, the leadership of the Polish Football Association was suspended by the Polish Olympic Committee for "[violating] its statutes in a continuous and flagrant fashion".{{cite news | url = http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ggrPp0E2zb6X5sCZmfze_hAwFQuA | title = Administrator taking over scandal-hit Polish federation | date=29 September 2008|agency = Agence France-Presse| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110520174001/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ggrPp0E2zb6X5sCZmfze_hAwFQuA | archive-date = 20 May 2011 | url-status = dead}} One year earlier, the Polish sports ministry also made an attempt to address corruption within the Polish Football Association, but was threatened with suspension by FIFA, which forbids any form of government intervention.{{cite news | url = http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-europe-poland-idUKTRE48S9C320080929 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160306101825/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-europe-poland-idUKTRE48S9C320080929 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 6 March 2016 | title = Polish FA suspended over corruption issues | first = Karolina | last = Slowikowska|date=30 September 2008|website=Reuters}} On 30 October 2008, Grzegorz Lato became the president of the Polish Football Association. On 26 October 2012, Zbigniew Boniek was elected president after winning 61 votes from 118 delegates.{{Cite magazine|title=Boniek becomes new head of Polish FA|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/soccer/wires/10/26/2080.ap.soc.poland.election.2nd.ld.writethru.214/index.html|magazine=Sports Illustrated|publisher=Minute Media|agency=Associated Press|via=CNN|date=26 October 2012|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130119115043/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/soccer/wires/10/26/2080.ap.soc.poland.election.2nd.ld.writethru.214/index.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 19 January 2013}}

The football association turned 100 years with the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup during its centennial year. In 2019, Józef Klotz, who had played for the Poland national football team and was killed in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust, was honored by the Association.{{Cite news|title=Poland honors national soccer player murdered in Holocaust|url=https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/06/11/poland-honors-national-soccer-player-murdered-in-holocaust/|newspaper=Israel Hayom|date=6 November 2019|access-date=2 January 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/before-polish-israeli-soccer-match-murdered-jewish-player-honored-592087|title=Before Polish-Israeli soccer match, murdered Jewish player honored|website=The Jerusalem Post|date= 10 June 2019 }} On 28 August 2021, Cezary Kulesza was elected president.{{Cite web|url=https://www.laczynaspilka.pl/aktualnosci/pzpn/cezary-kulesza-nowym-prezesem-polskiego-zwiazku-pilki-noznej|first=Emil|last=Kopański|title=Cezary Kulesza nowym prezesem Polskiego Związku Piłki Nożnej|date=18 August 2021|access-date=2 January 2025|website=Polish Football Association|language=pl}}

Provincial associations

The PZPN is divided into 16 provincial associations, corresponding to the 16 voivodeships of Poland.{{Cite web |title=Wojewódzkie ZPN |url=https://pzpn.pl/federacja/wojewodzkie-zpn|website=Polish Football Association|access-date=10 June 2023|language=pl}}

class="wikitable sortable"
Region

! Association

{{flag|Lower Silesian Voivodeship}}

| Dolnośląski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship}}

| Kujawsko-Pomorski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Lublin Voivodeship}}

| Lubelski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Lubusz Voivodeship}}

| Lubuski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Łódź Voivodeship}}

| Łódzki Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Lesser Poland Voivodeship}}

| Małopolski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Masovian Voivodeship}}

| Mazowiecki Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Opolskie Voivodeship}}

| Opolski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Podkarpackie Voivodeship}}

| Podkarpacki Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Podlaskie Voivodeship}}

| Podlaski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Pomeranian Voivodeship}}

| Pomorski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Silesian Voivodeship}}

| Śląski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship}}

| Świętokrzyski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship}}

| Warmińsko-Mazurski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|Greater Poland Voivodeship}}

| Wielkopolski Związek Piłki Nożnej

{{flag|West Pomeranian Voivodeship}}

| Zachodniopomorski Związek Piłki Nożnej

Presidents

class="wikitable"

!N.!!President!!Tenure!!Notes{{cite web|title=Prezesi PZPN|url=https://www.pzpn.pl/federacja/historia/prezesi-pzpn|publisher=Polish Football Association|access-date=15 July 2015|language=pl}}

1.Edward Cetnarowski20 December 1919 – 15 January 1928
2.Władysław Bończa-Uzdowski15 January 1928 – 20 February 1937
3.Kazimierz Glabisz20 February 1937 – 1 September 1939
4.Tadeusz Kuchar29 June 1945 – 16 February 1946
5.Władysław Bończa-Uzdowski16 February 1946 – 1949
6.Andrzej Przeworski1949 – 1951
7.Jerzy Bordziłowski1951 – 1953
8.Jan Rotkiewicz1953 – 1954
9.Roman Gajzler1954 – 1954
10.Władysław Rajkowski1954 – 1956
11.Stefan Glinka1956 – 1961
12.Wit Hanke1961 – 1966
13.Wiesław Ociepka1966 – 1972
14.Stanisław Nowosielski1972 – 1973
15.Jan Maj1973 – 1976
16.Edward Sznajder1976 – 1978
17.Marian Ryba1978 – 1981
18.Włodzimierz Reczek1981 – 1985
19.Edward Brzostowski1985 – 1986
20.Zbigniew Jabłoński1986 – 1989
21.Jerzy Domański1989 – 25 March 1991
22.Kazimierz Górski25 March 1991 – 3 July 1995
23.{{ill|Marian Dziurowicz|pl|Marian Dziurowicz}}3 July 1995 – 28 June 1999
-Wiesław Pakoca25 May 1998 – 7 August 1998curator
24.Michał Listkiewicz28 June 1999 – 30 October 2008
-{{ill|Andrzej Rusko|pl|Andrzej Rusko}}19 January 2007 – 1 February 2007curator
-{{ill|Marcin Wojcieszak|pl|Marcin Wojcieszak}}1 February 2007 – 5 March 2007curator
-{{ill|Robert Zawłocki|pl|Robert Zawłocki}}29 September 2008 – 10 October 2008curator
25.Grzegorz Lato30 October 2008 – 26 October 2012
26.Zbigniew Boniek26 October 2012 – 18 August 2021
27.Cezary Kulesza18 August 2021 – present

References

{{Reflist}}