Two Legia Warsaw players were arrested by Dutch police after the team’s Europa Conference League match against AZ, leading to strong reactions in Poland.
Dutch authorities detained a 28-year-old from Serbia and a 33-year-old from Portugal after Thursday’s 1-0 victory for the Dutch side. The players remain in custody.
Polish media identified the players as Radovan Pankov and Josue, pulled off the team coach and taken to a police station, as reported by TVP. Footage shows Josue being led away in handcuffs.
TVP reports Legia president and owner Dariusz Mioduski was allegedly hit in the face by police, and Legia staff were struck with batons. Dutch police comments are awaited.
Tempers flared after the match when the Legia bus faced difficulties leaving the stadium, leading to arrests for “harassment,” according to Dutch police cited by Polish broadcaster RMF FM. The case is with Dutch prosecutors.
Before the match, Legia Warsaw fans assaulted the local police force, violently breaching the stadium’s entry gate and leaving one officer in riot gear unconscious, according to a police statement. The incident created significant repercussions at the highest levels in Poland.
“I have ordered the foreign ministry to take urgent diplomatic action to verify the events of the night,” Poland’s 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 stated to RMF that the team would head back 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.”