02/02/2025

JANOWSKI OUT OF POLISH SQUAD

Former world No.3 Maciej Janowski has been dropped from the Polish national squad for 2025.Polish speedway bosses confirmed the news on the national team’s official website after Janowski departed their pre-season training camp in Malta without permission, before returning after a brief trip home.Posting a video on social media on Saturday, Janowski confirmed he headed back to Poland to attend a friend and sponsor’s wedding, as well as obtain a new passport and the visa needed to compete for British club Oxford this season.The PZM main board hit back with a statement confirming Janowski is out of the squad for 2025, when the Poles will go for gold at the FIM Speedway of Nations Final in Torun on October 4.Ireneusz Igielski, chairman of the GKSŻ and head of the Polish national team, said: “I am very sorry that this situation has occurred. Representing the country is the highest possible honour and that is how it should be treated by the riders. Removing Maciej Janowski from the squad was a difficult decision, but there could be no other.“Before leaving for Malta, coach Rafał Dobrucki gave all riders specific information regarding their participation in the training camp. He did this because we did not want to have situations like the one with Maciej Janowski.“In addition, Maciej Janowski had a conversation with the coach before leaving for Poland. He (Dobrucki) reminded him of his previous commitment and informed him about the possible consequences of leaving the camp. I would not like to talk about the reasons why Maciej Janowski decided to leave, because it is a private matter of the rider. However, in the opinion of the coach and also mine, there was no premise that would allow for consent to such a trip. It was not a sudden family situation, nor an illness or injury.”Explaining his decision to leave the camp, Janowski posted: “A week before arriving in Malta from Tenerife, I called the coach to ask for leave from the last three days of the camp, on the pretext of a few things I had in Poland. “One of them was to collect a new passport and apply for a work visa in England. The second thing was the wedding of my friends, who are also sponsors, with whom we have very good relations, and I really wanted to attend the wedding. It was not a birthday, so the wedding seemed like a pretty good argument to me. “In response, the coach said that I should lie to him, which surprised me a lot. Of course, I could lie and blame it on some family issues, which would certainly make it a lot easier. However, it seemed to me that the truth is also some kind of expression of respect towards the coach. I have always been guided by the fact that I rather build my relationships with people on the truth, not on lies. The coach said ‘Okay, okay, but we'll talk more at the camp.’“We met after a few days at the camp. The day before the flight, I went back to the coach and said that I was determined to go, because there were only two training days left, because we would be back on the third day. The coach was not entirely happy, but I decided to go, because many riders had done it in the past and it had never been a problem.”Along with being dropped from the national team, Janowski has also been threatened with being frozen out of the Golden Helmet meetings, which traditionally decide Poland’s entrants for the Speedway GP qualifiers.Janowski is far from happy with the storm that has ensued. He added: “I thought that I had stronger relationships with some people, but then I saw all these articles ... Nobody even called me from the PZM. In reality, we are destroying the team from the inside even before the season. I don't know why there is such aversion to me. “I thought that for all these years in the team, for the medals won together with the guys, there would be greater respect for me. I don't want to close the door to the Golden Helmet. It will definitely not be a nice day. It will be a day of confrontation. I want to hear why they did this to me, why the matter was referred to journalists.”Despite the PZM’s decision, the riders selected by Polish boss Rafal Dobrucki and every other national team manager at this stage of the season form only a provisional squad. They reserve the right to select riders beyond their pre-season list when they choose their five-rider squad for the FIM SON four weeks before the tournament starts with Semi-Final 1 on September 30.This leaves the door open for Janowski return and chase Poland’s first-ever gold medal in the FIM SON, should Dobrucki and the PZM have a change of heart.

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