Poland World Cup warm-up moved after crack found at stadium

WARSAW: Poland’s final warmup game ahead of the World Cup will not be held at the National Stadium as planned due to a construction defect. Poland’s Football Association said the game with Chile on Wednesday will be moved to the Legia Warsaw Stadium. Sports minister Kamil Bortniczuk said on Saturday that the National Stadium’s architects and builders have advised the immediate closure of the venue because it requires urgent repairs.

An annual check-up recently revealed a growing crack in one of the metal structures that support the roof. Experts will come up with repair plans on Monday, Bortniczuk said. Poland’s FA also said it was suspending cooperation with a bodyguard assigned to captain Robert Lewandowski, and barring the man from the World Cup in Qatar, over prosecutors’ allegations that Dominik Gruszewski was a member of a criminal gang.

Poland, featuring Lewandowski as the team’s talisman in attack, opens its World Cup Group C campaign against Mexico on Nov. 22. It then plays Saudi Arabia four days later before taking on Argentina on Nov.