Anger in Poland after Legia Warsaw players arrested in Netherlands
Dutch police have arrested two players from Polish football team Legia Warsaw following their Europa Conference League match against AZ Alkmaar, officials said, prompting an angry reaction in Poland.
Dutch police said they had detained a 28-year-old man from Serbia and a 33-year-old man from Portugal after Thursday’s match, which ended in a 1-0 victory for the Dutch side, and that they were still in custody.
According to Polish media reports the players concerned are Radovan Pankov and Josue. The players were pulled off the team coach and taken to a police station, public broadcaster TVP reported.
TVP footage showed Josue being led away by police in handcuffs.
TVP reported that Legia president and owner Dariusz Mioduski was hit in the face by police while several members of Legia staff were hit with batons.
A Dutch police spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment but a statement was expected later on Friday.
According to TVP, tempers had become frayed after the match when the Legia bus had difficulty leaving the stadium.
Polish private broadcaster RMF FM cited Dutch police as saying the arrests were due to “harassment”, without elaborating. Dutch prosecutors are now dealing with the case, RMF said.
Legia Warsaw fans had attacked the local police force before the match, knocking one officer in riot gear unconscious as they violently stormed the stadium’s entry gate, police said in a statement.
The incident caused waves at the highest levels in Poland.
“I have ordered the foreign ministry to take urgent diplomatic action to verify the events of the night,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Polish players and fans must be treated in accordance with the law. There is no consent to breaking it.”
Legia spokesperson Bartosz Zaslawski was quoted by RMF as saying the team would return to Poland without Josue and Pankov.
“As far as we know, they are at the police station,” RMF quoted Zaslawski as saying. “Our representatives are with them, including the club’s lawyer. We are waiting for the police to move.”