World Cup in Warsaw!

– The Grand Prix in Warsaw will not take place in 2026, as it will be replaced by the SWC. All decisions regarding the 2027 season will be made based on what happens this year and next year – says Michał Sikora, president of PZM, in an interview with WP SportoweFakty.

Jarosław Galewski, WP SportoweFakty: How did the talks between the Polish Motor Association and the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) and Warner Bros Discovery Sports, the promoter of the SGP and SoN series, conclude regarding the lack of wild cards for Polish speedway riders in the SGP 2025 cycle?

Michał Sikora (President of the Polish Motor Association): We focused on the future because one could say that the so-called media milk has been spilled, and everyone who receives wild cards in a sporting manner, that is, primarily considering results, skills, and achievements of riders, saw that the decisions regarding the 2025 season were poorly received. In my opinion, they were more geographical and marketing. In other words – the aim was to have riders in the cycle who either guarantee or should guarantee additional interest from fans in the host countries or according to the principle that the image of the World Championships is better the more nations participate. This happens not only in speedway. Concluding, we wanted to focus on the future at the meeting in Warsaw and what conclusions can be drawn from the decisions for 2025. Representatives of WBDS came to Poland at our invitation to talk to us. We treat each other as partners.

Did the PZM advocate for at least one wild card for a Pole in 2025 itself? If so, what did these efforts involve?

I need to explain to the fans that such efforts are always informal talks, lobbying, and this probably applies not only to our federation, as others surely do likewise. Yes, we held talks, but we don’t have formal tools to force decisions on anyone. We believed that Maciej Janowski or Patryk Dudek deserved a chance.

Did the PZM ever consider that due to the fact there will be only two Poles (Bartosz Zmarzlik and Dominik Kubera) in the SGP 2025 cycle, the SGP scheduled for May 17 of that year in Warsaw would need to be moved to another location or canceled?

The Polish Motor Association is a serious partner. It doesn’t work the way some media have presented the topic, as if we’re “taking our toys and getting offended.” In business and international organizations, that’s not how you can behave because we’re part of international structures. We decided to approach this year’s tournament and future conversations differently – that was our goal, and we achieved it.

Otherwise, how?

For over a year, we’ve been making efforts to bring to Warsaw an event beloved by Polish fans, the Team World Cup. Unfortunately, last year the high license costs from Warner Bros Discovery Sports, motivated by higher costs than the SGP, were a barrier. The situation with wild cards and the potential loss of the PZM as a partner to Warner Bros Discovery Sports opened new negotiating possibilities for us. And we succeeded. We achieved that in 2026, we will host the Team World Cup at the PGE Narodowy. This is a format of competition where we have a Polish representative in every race. It’s an event Polish fans love, and we had one goal: to ensure ticket prices remained unchanged for this event, which could only be achieved by paying the same license fee as for the SGP. I consider this our success, and in the meantime, I invite everyone to Warsaw on May 17 this year for the Grand Prix and on August 29, 2026, to the PGE Narodowy.

Does this mean that the Grand Prix will not be held in Warsaw in the following years?

The Grand Prix in Warsaw will not take place in 2026 because it will be replaced by the SWC. As for 2027, our position is clear after recent events: financially balancing such significant events is challenging, and we will make all decisions about 2027 based on what happens this year and next year concerning the SWC. I’m talking about interest and attendance, as Warsaw has become the only truly large venue in the organizer’s portfolio.

Do you think the SGP cycle, after decisions like canceling the Cardiff event and lacking new locations, is going through a crisis and requires changes? If yes, what changes?

I don’t buy the narrative that speedway and large stadiums don’t have the so-called chemistry. Times have changed, and some would still like to organize world-class events on small venues located outside agglomerations because they have a sentimental attachment to it. This policy doesn’t elevate speedway to another level; it doesn’t enhance its attractiveness to TV and fans. I would like to see impressive and modern venues in the SGP cycle because speedway doesn’t have the opportunity to collaborate with large automotive manufacturers like MotoGP or motocross. Only with such efforts, like organizing events in comfortable conditions for fans and on stadiums that meet modern TV broadcast standards, can we expect greater popularity. Of course, someone might say that we already had events in Copenhagen or Berlin, and it brought nothing, but I disagree – it did because there was always a good audience, and just because the tracks sometimes left much to be desired – times have changed, and today we’re on a different level. I think Speed Sports has drawn conclusions, and proof of this is the recent years at the PGE Narodowy, where the track didn’t cause problems.

How do you view the topic of speedway’s popularity today, considering Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Sydney have been absent from the SGP cycle for years, and now Cardiff as well?

Expanding to new locations equals money and media interest. That’s how I sum it up. I have nothing against good events on a proven Danish track in Vojens or traditional speedway in Malilla, but I think that besides ensuring excellent sporting standards, we also need to ensure that such events are held in venues where one can sit comfortably, use a restroom, park a car, and finally – where TV is able to broadcast from appropriate camera positions and good-quality artificial lighting. In my opinion, we can’t remain stuck in the past. Today, spending time in the form of a city break is a popular way, fifteen years ago, young people didn’t spend time like this, and we need to give them opportunities to spend two hours of their stay in some European city on speedway.

Are you still opposed to the participation of Artiom Łaguta and Emila Sajfutdinow in SGP, even considering the possibility that they could do so under a neutral flag, if FIM allows such a possibility?

I’d like to put an end to this discussion once and for all because many believe that PZM is involved here, but that’s not the case. First of all, FIM doesn’t have the stateless status that journalists sometimes refer to, citing the situation of Artem Laguta or Emil Sajfutdinow as analogous to the FIA (International Automobile Federation – ed. note). Without a flag, without state affiliation – such rules don’t exist in FIM. As for competing under the Polish flag and citizenship – I am opposed because I believe they shouldn’t take the place of Polish riders who have competed as Poles from the start of their careers. From a sporting standpoint, I think both riders might bring more to the cycle than, for example, this year’s wild cards, and if the promoter and FIM want to see them in SGP, it’s enough to create the institution of a neutral flag. But that’s not Poland’s problem.

Why don’t WBDS and FIM have rules similar to FIA, where there’s an example like WRC driver Nikolay Gryazin, who successfully competes in the championship as a stateless person, and for the 2024 season, as a driver from Russia, entered with a Bulgarian rally license.

I don’t want to comment on this as I don’t want to delve too much into political matters, but any observer of social, political life, and ultimately, sport – can draw their own conclusions considering the promoters and their nationalities. I’m referring, for example, to motorsport, tennis, football, basketball…

There’s no doubt that the sporting level of the SGP cycle has decreased in recent years. How should the wild card policy change accordingly?

Of course, the level is lower because it resulted from not only the pandemic, war in Ukraine, but also a regression in various corners of the world associated with speedway. Event organizers still care about the so-called flags, and these flags are no longer as “significant numerically” as once. It means that, for example, it’s hard to find an American, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Italian, or French rider in the SGP cycle. I believe we can’t artificially place such riders in the cycle based on nationality – it strongly affects the level. Additionally, I think that SGP and SEC cycles aren’t to have the same riders in both. In my opinion, one wild card for an unlucky one from the previous season is a reasonable solution. Qualifiers – they must be broad, and that is where traditional tracks with speedway pedigrees belong. Let the cycle change, let it be a point of honor to get into it. I think the world semi-finals and final qualifying to the cycle – could be truly great events that would add color to speedway and also satisfy supporters of systems known from the past of speedway.

I’d like to ask about the role of Poles in world speedway. What future awaits Piotr Szymański in the structures of FIM and FIM Europe? What tasks does PZM set for him?

There’s nothing preventing him from becoming the head of world speedway, that is, chairing the Track Racing Commission CCP. That’s his goal. However, it’s not the case that if a sport is leading in a country, the commission head must be from there. The comparisons are simple. The head of the motorcycle racing commission is English, and the promoter comes from Spain, and in that country, we have many events, including four MotoGP rounds.

Should PZM be defining the development paths of speedway and saving world speedway financially, educationally, and organizationally? Is this how it should look?

We have flair in Poland because we care about the discipline, and although many criticize us internally, we’re perceived quite differently as the speedway community “from the outside.” Education in Poland is at a very high level because we have the resources for it, which crisis caused in Sweden, for example. I want to strongly emphasize that I’m a big proponent of national juniors in league team compositions, so we don’t make the mistake of the UK or Scandinavia. Fans view league seasons with short-sightedness; they think that “young and talented” will always break through, but some stimulation in this increasingly expensive sport is necessary. Speedway riders on a development path sometimes need more access to financial resources and equipment. This is enabled, for example, by the presence in the lineup of U24 riders.

Poland organizes Speedway Ekstraliga Camp, has the mentioned U24 training league, allows speedway riders from around the world to earn, and pays the most for the rights to organize SGP and SoN – what costs do we incur for all of this concerning our position in FIM?

Everyone is looking at the profit, promoters know how popular speedway is in our country, local governments support it, fans are in the stands, so it’s not the case that this market situation has arisen just today or yesterday. It’s natural that we can’t be the “Robin Hood” of world speedway and that Poland, since there’s a lot of money being made here, should be sentenced to “donate to the poorer,” but the law of supply and demand is relentless.

What do you think about the new agreements for organizing SGP in Poland? Is there a chance to consolidate all rights in the hands of the association and then distribute them to specific clubs or cities?

Back when Andrzej Witkowski was the President of PZM, and I was the Vice-President, a plan was created to centralize the rights to organize the most important events like SGP and SWC in our country, so within the Union by agreement with the promoter – then BSI, and later signing contracts with cities/organizers from PZM’s position. However, it turned out impossible for various reasons; primarily, it’s not the Union’s role to be such a “broker” and resell rights because that leads directly to accusing PZM of bias, and besides, there could always be claims of lacking objective market criteria. Additionally, there would be no guarantee that rights would actually be cheaper for a package of, for example, five events. It’s somewhat akin to organizing city New Year celebrations or cycling races passing through certain towns. Promoters or TV stations sign contracts with cities on the terms they negotiate. Some say they’re too high, others count the benefits from promotion.

What should be the overarching goal of the Polish speedway team for the next season, under the leadership of the new head of GKSŻ, Ireneusz Igielski?

The goal is gold in the Speedway of Nations in Toruń – it can’t be otherwise. The fact that we’re home means we’re the favorites, but practically the entire world elite knows the Motoarena, and it won’t be just a formality, it can’t be underestimated. However, I’m saying clearly after what happened in the UK (Poland’s fifth place in SoN 2024 – ed. note), that I expect gold for Poland.

Does any hope still flicker within PZM for the revival of speedway in Warsaw? Maybe not immediately league and with a stadium, but any kind, even starting with pit bike class?  

Warsaw doesn’t have a sports hall that can accommodate about fifteen thousand spectators and no speedway track – that’s to counterbalance the problems. Regarding the situation on the site of the former Gwardia, it’s well known. There will be no speedway there; nearby areas have strategic significance for state security. The city area is also a poor location due to surrounding residential development and noise issues generated by speedway events and training. Finding new spaces is difficult amidst the capital’s all-encompassing development. Regarding surrounding municipalities, there are neither locations nor investors.