Polish tennis body chief resigns after abuse claims

WARSAW: Poland’s tennis federation president Miroslaw Skrzypczynski has resigned, the association said on Thursday after sexual harassment accusations against him.

“During a meeting of the governing body of the Polish Tennis Association (PZT), Miroslaw Skrzypczynski tendered his resignation... with immediate effect,” the organisation said in a statement. The resignation was accepted ‘unanimously’, it added.

On Monday, Polish parliamentarian Katarzyna Kotula told media she had suffered abuse as a young teenager from Skrzypczynski, her then-coach.

Kotula described him as a ‘sexual predator’ and suggested she was not his only victim. She said he had molested her ‘at least a dozen times in three years’ when she was attached to a club in the north-east of Poland in the 1990s. Similar anonymous allegations had earlier appeared in the press.

Skrzypczynski, tennis chief since 2017, has denied the accusations.

On Tuesday, world No 1 Iga Swiatek took to Twitter to demand action, calling the reports ‘serious’ and urging the federation ‘to find out what went on’.

“As current leader of women’s tennis, I can’t remain silent,” the 21-year-old wrote, adding that she herself had never been a victim of abuse.

The PZT said on Thursday that it would establish an independent external commission of three women to investigate ‘the matters involving Miroslaw Skrzypczynski that were the subject of recent media reports’.

It said the commission would be up and running by the end of the month and would submit its findings within six months.