Polish police enter broadcaster Polsat’s offices in licensing probe

Polish anti-corruption police secured documents from the headquarters of broadcaster Polsat on Thursday, a Polsat spokesperson said, amid an investigation into the licensing of sport broadcasting rights by state-run TVP.

“There are ongoing activities to secure documents in an investigation… into actions taken to the detriment of TVP, including in connection with granting a sub-licence agreement to Polsat television for broadcasting sports events,” said Marta Kolendowska-Matejczuk, spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Krosno.

Kolendowska-Matejczuk declined to give further details.

Polsat spokesperson Tomasz Matwiejczuk said that three officers from Poland’s Central Anti-corruption Bureau (CBA) arrived at the company’s premises just before 0800 GMT and requested documentation regarding agreements with TVP.

Polsat gave the officers the requested documents and they left, he said, adding that the company had not previously received any letters from prosecutors regarding this issue.

News portal Onet reported that the investigation concerned two agreements concluded in 2018 and 2021 between TVP and Polsat, adding that its information had been confirmed by investigators.

According to Onet, TVP gave Polsat a sub-licence to broadcast sports events to which it had previously bought the rights, and in return, Polsat gave TVP a sub-licence to broadcast Champions League soccer and the Polish national volleyball team’s matches.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the details of the sub-licence agreements reported by Onet.

At 1250 GMT, shares of Polsat’s parent company, Cyfrowy Polsat, were down 2.35%, after earlier rising as much as 1.8%. Reuters