POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Łukasz Klimczyk, Maciej Skrzypek, Beata Danel-Skrzypek and Piotr Klepuszewski, SLK Partners
8.2 Organisations and Initiatives to Promote Women’s Sport In Poland, the development of women’s sport is supported through a combination of governmental programmes, federation-led initiatives and grass - roots projects aimed at increasing participation and strengthening professional pathways. A notable initiative is the government-funded pro - gramme supporting women’s football training intro - duced by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. The programme targets academies operating within top- tier and first-division women’s clubs and focuses on improving youth development systems, organisational stability and long-term professionalisation of the disci - pline. At federation level, the Polish Football Associa - tion has implemented grant-based programmes sup - porting women’s clubs, including funding for training activities, the creation of new women’s sections and promotional initiatives aimed at increasing participa - tion. Broader participation programmes promoting physical activity among children and young people also indi - rectly support women’s sport by improving access to infrastructure and organised training environments at local level. From a regulatory perspective, proposed amendments to the Polish Sports Act aimed at strengthening female representation in sports governance and improving welfare protections for female athletes, including pregnancy-related support, illustrate a broader policy shift towards institutional equality in sport. The development of women’s sport in Poland also ben - efits from non-governmental initiatives. For example, the Polish Association of Women’s Sport promotes women’s participation and supports female athletes, while the nationwide project “A Woman’s Perspective on Management in Sport” (2022–2024) provided train - ing and leadership programmes aimed at increasing women’s representation in sports management.
Union, which requires sporting rules to pursue legiti - mate sporting objectives and to remain proportionate to those aims. 8. Women’s Sport 8.1 Development and Growth of Women’s Sport Women’s sport in Poland has developed unevenly across disciplines but has recently experienced increasing professionalisation, improved marketing standards and growing interest from sponsors and broadcasters. Women’s football has seen particu - larly strong growth in visibility and attendance, while greater media exposure has also been observed in women’s handball, basketball and volleyball. A significant regulatory development is a proposed amendment to the Polish Sports Act aimed at strengthening the institutional position of women in sports governance and improving support mecha - nisms for female athletes. The draft legislation intro - duces gender representation requirements within the governing bodies of Polish sports federations. Man - agement boards composed of two to five members would be required to include at least one woman and one man, while in larger boards each gender must rep - resent at least 30% of members. Similar rules would apply to supervisory bodies. The proposal also intro - duces enhanced protection for athletes during preg - nancy and after childbirth, including extending the period during which female athletes receive funding after childbirth from six to 12 months and increasing benefit levels. The growth of women’s sport in Poland has also been driven by the international success and commercial visibility of leading athletes. This trend is reflected in the results of Poland’s most prestigious sports poll (the Przegląd Sportowy Sports Personality of the Year), where female athletes have won consecutive editions between 2022 and 2025: Iga Świątek (tennis) in 2022 and 2023, Aleksandra Mirosław (sport climb - ing) in 2024 and Klaudia Zwolińska (canoe slalom) in 2025. These results illustrate the growing mainstream recognition and commercial attractiveness of wom - en’s sport in Poland.
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