Piesiewicz was arrested on Thursday in Warsaw and charged with influence peddling and favouring one group of creditors over others amid concerns over the solvency of the troubled cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto.
After questioning Piesiewicz, prosecutors on Friday asked a court to order his pre-trial detention. On Saturday, a court in the southern city of Katowice granted the request, according to Anna Adamiak, spokeswoman for Poland's prosecutor-general.
Sports and Tourism Minister Jakub Rutnicki said the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl) must act quickly to restore its reputation.
"Now is the time for swift and decisive action by the sports community," Rutnicki wrote on X. "I call on the Polish Olympic Committee's board to take immediate corrective action and restore trust in the PKOl."
He said he would ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to support the Polish committee's efforts to reform.
The PKOl's duty, he said, is to protect the image of Polish athletes while upholding transparency and integrity.
Rutnicki sharply criticised Piesiewicz, saying the Olympic boss should never have held the position and accusing him of damaging Polish Olympic sport.
He also blamed the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party for supporting Piesiewicz over the years.
Meanwhile, PKOl board member Krzysztof Wiłkomirski said the committee's leadership would convene to address the situation.
"No one wants the PKOl to be paralysed," Wiłkomirski told state news agency PAP, adding that a meeting of the board's executive committee should be held by the end of this week.
The committee's executive board said on Friday that the organisation continued to operate "without disruption" despite Piesiewicz's arrest and the charges against him.
Wiłkomirski said the committee's leadership was deeply divided but had managed to issue the joint statement.
Piesiewicz, who denies any wrongdoing, has led the PKOl since April 2023, and his term runs until spring next year.
Prosecutors allege that Piesiewicz last year received a luxury watch worth nearly PLN 170,000 (EUR 40,000, USD 45,000) from Przemysław Kral, head of Zondacrypto, among other gifts, in exchange for offering to intercede with former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the head of Poland's competition and consumer protection watchdog, UOKiK, over proceedings involving the cryptocurrency exchange.
The Olympic boss is also accused of pressuring a board member of Zondacrypto's Estonian operator to release PLN 195,000 (EUR 45,000) and EUR 100,000 to selected creditors in April, as concerns grew over the platform's solvency.
Speaking to reporters before the hearing, Piesiewicz maintained his innocence, saying he had "lost EUR 200,000" and paid for the watch himself.
Zondacrypto is under investigation for large-scale fraud and money laundering.
The case was merged in early August with an inquiry into the 2022 disappearance of Sylwester Suszek, founder of BitBay, the predecessor of Zondacrypto.
Zondacrypto had been the PKOl's main sponsor since October 2025. The Polish Olympic Committee ended the deal in April.
(gs)
Source: IAR/PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Marcin Matuszewski