PZPN fines Legia 250,000 zł per home match over closed away sector

The fine and its legal basis

The PZPN Licensing Committee (Komisja ds. Licencji Klubowych PZPN) imposed a control measure on Legia Warszawa requiring the club to pay 250,000 zł for each home match played while criterion I.18 of the licensing manual for Ekstraklasa clubs for the 2026/2027 season remains unmet. According to the committee, the breach stems from the club's unilateral temporary closure of the away-fan sector until the end of 2026, which left the required number of seats for visiting supporters unavailable. The committee reviewed the club's documentation, including the positions of the relevant public institutions and the permit for mass events without visiting fans. The committee was explicit that such a permit does not remove the club's licensing obligations.

A permit to hold a mass event without visiting fans, submitted at the club's request, does not release it from the obligation to comply with licensing requirements.

The committee also found that Legia had not shown early and effective steps toward alternative solutions that would have kept it compliant while the sector was unavailable. Separately, it decided to extend the infrastructure oversight it had imposed on the club on 28 April 2026.

How the closure was announced

At the end of September, Legia announced that the away sector at Łazienkowska would be closed until the end of 2026. The club cited a decision by the Warsaw I District Police Command (Komenda Rejonowa Policji Warszawa I), which called for renovation and safety works, including modernising the CCTV system and installing an additional gate. The police and the city also asked for the legal status of municipal land next to the access route to the away sector to be settled. The announcement came shortly before the Wisła Kraków match, and Kraków fans reacted negatively. On Thursday 8 October, Legia said the Warsaw mayor had issued a permit for mass events at the stadium without visiting fans, valid until 31 December 2026 and based on the opinions of relevant services, including the police. Legia says the city and police called for the works, but the police reply that its letter answered a request from the club itself, and the Warsaw Greenery Management Board (Zarząd Zieleni m.st. Warszawy) has said the same. Wirtualna Polska reported days earlier that Legia most likely sought the closure itself, a move possibly linked to a fan boycott of Wisła Kraków, whose supporters have been kept out of many stadiums in Poland.

Cost and the remaining home fixtures

The Wisła Kraków game is the first of five Legia home matches that could fall under the fine. Legia's remaining home games after it are against Lech Poznań, Raków Częstochowa, Wieczysta Kraków and Pogoń Szczecin. If all five were played without visiting supporters, the fines would total 1,250,000 zł. Fans commenting online expect the works to be accelerated after the Wisła game, which would allow the sector to reopen quickly and avoid the penalty. Another possibility is that Legia makes seats in a different sector available to some of those clubs, which would also avoid the fine. Wisła does not plan to boycott the match in Warsaw.

Coach reaction and the Sunday fixture

Legia head coach Marek Papszun said the topic was not familiar to him when asked about the closure. He then pointed to Wisła's away record, saying that the fans' advantage was small in this case.

This topic is not familiar to me, I am not getting into it. Looking at Wisła's away games, we see a record of zero wins, two draws and two defeats, so in this case the fans' advantage is small.

Papszun also argued that fan support matters greatly for both clubs at home, noting that the two sides are very similar in this respect.

If the match were played without Wisła fans in Kraków, that would probably be a loss, and similarly for us a match without Legia fans. In that respect the two clubs are very similar, and the influence of fans at home matches is very large.

Asked whether Legia should be seen as favourites, he rejected the idea.

There is no basis for us to be clear favourites in any match today. Of course we know what we are capable of, we play at home and the numbers are on our side, but that has to be proven on the pitch.

Legia and Wisła Kraków meet on Sunday 11 October, with kick-off at 20:15.