Poland summons Dutch ambassador over treatment of Legia Warsaw team after match in Alkmaar

Two Legia Warsaw players were arrested by Dutch police following the Polish soccer team's Europa Conference League match at AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, officials said, prompting an angry reaction in Poland.

The police said they had detained a 28-year-old from Serbia and a 33-year-old from Portugal after the Group E gameat the AZ Stadium, which Alkmaar won 1-0.

"After the match, two Legia Warsaw players injured AZ employees who then needed medical care. These players have been detained on abuse charges," the police, the prosecutors and the city of Alkmaar said in a joint statement.

The players concerned are Radovan Pankov and Josue, of Serbia and Portugal respectively. They were pulled off the team coach and taken to a police station, police said.

The two players were released on Friday afternoon and have returned to Poland but remain suspects, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported, citing the players' lawyer.

Other Legia players and officials also turned violent when they were held up inside the stadium as police tried to escort Polish fans away from the ground, the local authorities said in their statement.

"Polish media are creating an image that players were the victim of police, but that's far from the truth. The players themselves were violent," the statement said.

Legia Warsaw fans had already attacked the police before the match, knocking one officer in riot gear unconscious as they stormed the stadium's entry gate.

European soccer's governing body UEFA said in a statement that it had appointed inspectors to investigate the incidents.

The Polish state-controlled TVP reported that Legia president and owner Dariusz Mioduski was hit in the face by police while several members of Legia staff were hit with batons.

The incident caused waves at the highest level in Poland.

"I have ordered the foreign ministry to take urgent diplomatic action to verify the events of the night," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

"Polish players and fans must be treated in accordance with the law. We do not agree to law violations."

Polish Foreign Ministry's Undersecretary of State Paweł Jabłoński said the MFA summoned the Dutch ambassador for Saturday to discuss the "reliable, very disturbing information about discriminatory actions of Dutch services against Polish citizens".

"The Polish government can't agree to discrimination against our citizens. Those responsible for this must face consequences. We count on cooperation with the competent authorities of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in this matter," Jabłoński wrote on social media platform X.

At a special press conference on Friday, Legia chairman and owner Dariusz Mioduski called the incident "an absolute scandal" and said the club will seek to defend its rights.

"The players did not attack anyone. Aggression was on the Dutch side. We were already in the bus and wanted to go to the hotel," Mioduski said.

He added that the police had demanded Pankov and Josue leave the bus.

"In my opinion, the Dutch know they overreacted and that's why they write about aggression on our part. No attack had taken place. There might have been scuffles, emotions were running high, but that's all there is to say. I don't believe what is being written in Dutch media," Mioduski said.

On Friday evening, Legia said on the X social media platform that both players had been released and returned to Warsaw.