Former sports minister grilled over Madonna gig losses
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
16.04.2014 09:57
Former sports minister Joanna Mucha will be questioned by prosecutors on Wednesday in connection with a Madonna concert at Warsaw's National Stadium which led to millions of zloty in losses incurred by the Sports Ministry.
Joanna Mucha: photo - joannamucha.pl
The Madonna concert took place on 1 August 2012 and was the first non-sporting event to be staged at the venue built for the Euro 2012 football championships.
Rafal Kapler, then the chief of the National Sports Centre, which had secured the rights to obtain sponsors for the event, asked the Sports Ministry to stump up a loan of around 6 million zloty (1.5 million euro) to cover the costs of staging the concert, in agreement that the sum would be paid back with interest.
Despite 35,000 fans attending the gig no sponsor was found and profits never materialized, with the Sports Ministry suffering the losses.
Poland's Supreme Auditing Chamber, which monitors the use of state funds, found that the money was given by the ministry in a "wasteful" manner and launched an investigation into the issue in May last year.
Joanna Mucha, who was replaced as sports minister in a cabinet reshuffle last year blames the National Sports Centre for the losses. (pg)
source: IAR