Polish sports minister resigns after gambling lobby scandal

WARSAW - Polish Sports Minister Miroslaw Drzewiecki resigned Monday after allegations that he lobbied on behalf of gambling companies to block a law calling for more taxes from the gambling industry.

“I’ve made a sovereign decision… that today I will put in my resignation to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, to be effective immediately,” Drzewiecki said at a press conference in Warsaw, declining to answer questions.

The dismissal comes after the daily Rzeczpospolita alleged Drzewiecki and ruling party head Zbigniew Chlebowski lobbied to block a law that called for additional taxes totalling $162 million.

The taxes would have gone to help Poland prepare to host the Euro 2012 football tournament, which it is holding together with Ukraine.

Chlebowski, head of the Civic Platform party, was dismissed Thursday.

The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) found that businessmen Ryszard Sobiesiak and Jan Kosek, owners of the Casinos Poland chain, pressured both politicians to remove the provision from an amendment to the country’s gambling law.

Drzewiecki was targeted by the businessmen because he leads Poland’s efforts to prepare to co-host Euro 2012, reported the daily Rzeczpospolita.

Drzewiecki in May 2009 wrote to the deputy minister of finance that additional taxes from gambling companies were not needed because of changes in Euro 2012 investment plans. The provision for the additional taxes was removed from the draft bill.