01.07.2026
Ekstraklasa
By implementing the “Against Match Fixing” project, the Ekstraklasa Foundation is continuing operations which began in 2013, with the cooperation of other partners. As part of the “Don’t be a pawn of the game!” program, 1,500 young players annually participate in the training.
- Ekstraklasa has been engaged in promoting the integrity of the sport for a long time. We were a partner on a project together with the Main Police Headquarters, Ministry of Sports and Tourism, and with the Polish Football Association. Last year, as part of that project, 800 young players from Ekstraklasa clubs, ages 15 to 18, took part in anti-corruption training. Last year we found a group of partners – domestic as well as international. Together we created a new look of the project – with a far bigger reach. The main goal is to create awareness amongst young people, who are starting their career in senior football, what risks are associated with the phenomenon of match-fixing. - President of Ekstraklasa S.A., Marcin Animucki
In 2017 the Ekstraklasa Foundation received a financial grant from the Erasmus+ Sport program. The “Against Match Fixing” project - set to last 3 years - is the only one in Poland to receive such assistance from the European Union. In the first phase, online questionnaires will be sent to test the financial, and other aspects which can lead an individual towards match-fixing. The second phase will be based on motivational trainings with young players, in the form of video conference. Along with that, training documents will be distributed in clubs, academies, and football schools all around the country.
- In all of Europe, the phenomenon of match fixing has never been studied at such a level. Are people engaged in these types of actions, blackmailed, intimidated? Are they receiving financial means or are they exchanging information on the outcomes of matches? Is the participation in match-fixing due to having a few bad apples in the team, or is it because of a lack of acceptance from the team? These are some of the questions asked. The goal is to work out how the system works and the risks that come with it, and then create a way to fight it. – President of the Ekstraklasa Foundation, Marcin Stefański
The Ekstraklasa Foundation received 400 thousand Euros as a financial grant, from the Erasmus+ Sport program. Other partners of the program are: National Sports Academy NSA (Sofia), Association – Center for investigative journalism SCOOP Macedonia (Skopje), ESSA (Sports Betting Integrity) (Brussels), Centro Universitario Sportivo Palermo (CUS Palermo), European Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (Paris), Play Fair Code (Vienna), German Sport University (Cologne).
Media Contact
Bartosz Orzechowski
Communications Manager
+48 668 858 837
