Olympic medalists without money from Zondacrypto. POC: we can't afford to pay today

According to PAP information, the Polish Olympic Committee prizes in tokens in the amount of PLN 950,000 are still unsettled. PLN for three medalists of the Winter Games in Milan. This applies to ski jumpers Kacper Tomasiak and Paweł Wąsek and speed skater Wladimir Semirunnij. They were to be paid by Zondacrypto.

– Today we cannot afford to pay these bonuses for medalists – Katarzyna Kochaniak-Roman, spokeswoman for the Polish Olympic Committee, told PAP, adding that another sponsor, Polkomtel, did not pay the January invoice, terminated the contract and is in arrears with a large sum.

The Polish Olympic Committee spokeswoman confirmed to PAP that the tranche from Zondacrypto, from which bonuses for medalists were to be paid, has not been received. She emphasized that after Polkomtel settles the arrears, the first decision will be to transfer the outstanding funds to the accounts of the Olympic athletes.

President of the Polish Olympic Committee On April 23, Radosław Piesiewicz announced that if the next tranche of funds from the Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange is not received by the end of April, he will terminate the sponsorship agreement.

– If by April 30, as the records say, we, the Polish Olympic Committee, do not receive funds, I have grounds to terminate the contract and this contract will be terminated at no cost, without any perturbations for the Polish Olympic Committee – Piesiewicz said on RMF FM.

– And immediately the neon sign from the POC headquarters disappears – he added.

On Thursday, a group of five parliamentarians from the ruling coalition submitted a letter to the Olympic Center in Warsaw, demanding disclosure of the POC contract with Zondacrypto. They want the sponsor's name to disappear from the POC headquarters as soon as possible.

– The foundation of the Olympic movement are universal values. Nobility, honesty, fighting in the spirit of fair play. Mr. Piesiewicz passed these values ​​with a roller. I renew my appeal. Mr. President, for the good of the Olympic movement, please resign, said MP Andrzej Szewiński.

MP Małgorzata Niemczyk pointed out that if Poland applies to organize the Olympic Games Polish sport cannot be identified with low-reliability companies, especially those linked to the Russian mafia.

Zondacrypto general sponsor of the Polish Olympic Committee from October 2025

The Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange has been the general sponsor of the Polish Olympic Committee since October 22, 2025. In accordance with the agreement, the POC headquarters changed its name to “zondacrypto Olympic Center”, and in February, a large neon sign advertising the sponsor appeared on the building, which has also been named after John Paul II for 20 years. After signing the agreement in Monaco, the Polish Olympic Committee announced that, for the first time in history, performance awards will also be given to Olympic athletes who take places 4-8 in this year's Winter Games in Italy. The sponsor was supposed to transfer the bonuses in tokens, but he did not do so.

On April 17, the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice initiated an investigation into the insolvency of Zondacrypto. It is being investigated for fraud of significant value and money laundering. On the day the proceedings were initiated, the amount of damage was estimated at at least PLN 350 million, but – as investigators point out – it increases with each passing day, just like the number of victims. Then Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that according to estimates, up to 30,000 people could be injured.

They also included Polish Olympic athletes who reported, among other things, that they did not manage to cash in the funds transferred to their Zondacrypto accounts. In total, the company was to give them PLN 1.38 million in tokens for their results in this year's Olympic Games in Italy. Players ranked 4-8 who failed to cash in their tokens until the stock exchange ceased operations had their funds secured by one of the Polish Olympic Committee sponsors.

After the scandal broke out Football clubs such as Raków Częstochowa, GKS Katowice, Pogoń Szczecin and Wieczysta Kraków, as well as basketball clubs Dziki Warszawa, terminated their sponsorship contracts with Zondacrypto. The logo of the new sponsor Raków will appear on the front of the match shirts in which the team from Jasna Góra will play on Saturday in the Polish Cup final against Górnik Zabrze at the PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, and later in the four matches ending the league competition.

The stock exchange is still a sponsor of Lechia Gdańsk, which plays in the football top league. It also supports, among others: Italian football clubs such as Atalanta Bergamo or Juventus Turin. She is also involved in other sports, including: sponsors a professional cycling team with a German license, in which he rides, among others, Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) and specific races. (PAP)

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