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Poland takes note of FIFA red card warning

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-07 09:13

WARSAW: Polish soccer officials reportedly struck a last-minute deal with the government Monday in a bid to avoid a suspension by FIFA from all competitions and a possible loss of the co-hosting rights to the 2012 European Championship.

FIFA gave Poland until noon (1000 GMT) Monday to reinstate the Polish Football Federation's governing board or face suspension from two upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

UEFA has warned it could strip Poland of its hosting rights of European soccer's showcase event in 2012 if no deal is struck. Poland is due to co-host the tournament with Ukraine.

Michal Kleiber, the head of a four-member board set up in 2007 to help organize elections for a new federation board, said the government and football officials were nearing a deal.

"A certain consensus has been reached," Kleiber was quoted as saying by the Polish PAP news agency. "The chance for it to be implemented I put at 90 percent."

Zbigniew Kozminski, spokesman for the federation's suspended board, told reporters the government and federation had exchanged documents, translated them into English and sent them to FIFA in Switzerland and were now awaiting a response.

Kozminski refused to say whether a deal had been reached, but suspended federation president Michal Listkiewicz was quoted by private Radio Zet as saying Poland was waiting for FIFA to accept a plan agreed to by football officials and government representatives.

FIFA spokesman Pekka Odriozla said the sport's world body was examining information it had received from Poland.

"We are not in a position to make further statements at this stage," Odriozla said.

The Polish federation's governing board was suspended last week after a ruling by the Polish Olympic Committee's arbitration court. Robert Zawlocki was appointed temporary chief of the federation.

UEFA spokesman William Gaillard called that move "an abuse of our trust" that can lead to "very, very serious consequences."

"The feeling really is that they are thinking that we are all fools," Gaillard said Monday.

"It's extremely difficult to organize the Euro in Poland and Ukraine. If we made them stick to the commitments they signed in April 2007, they would be in trouble, terrible trouble, already," Gaillard said.