EURO 2008 INFO

Poland coach Leo Beenhakker said on Wednesday that he was deeply worried about the corruption scandal rocking the domestic football league and vowed to protect his team from a morale slump as they prepare for Euro 2008.

"Everybody who's part of Polish football will recognise of course that in general, it's a very bad situation," Beenhakker told reporters as he announced the names of the players he plans to take to Poland's first ever European championships appearance, in Austria and Switzerland in June.

"It's very bad for the image of Polish football. It's a very weird and bad example for our young generation who have the ambition to play football, and it's a very bad moment in relation to our participation in Euro 2008 and being hosts of Euro 2012," he added.

"But it also has a direct influence on my responsibility to the national team, and on the future of Polish football and on my position.

"I feel it is my responsibility and duty to try to keep this out of the preparations of the national team, which will not be easy.

"If the results in Euro 2008 don't correspond with the expectations we have, then I want to be sure that we lose on the pitch and not off the pitch," said the Dutch veteran, who has been coaching around the world since the 1960s and was appointed as Poland's coach in 2006.

Polish football has been tarnished over the past three years by match-fixing scandals, with around 120 individuals prosecuted or facing trial, dozens of whom have been arrested - including several referees, a top official with the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and a string of club officials.

Twenty-nine of the 34 clubs in the first and second divisions have been caught up in the ongoing probe.

Four top-flight sides have so far been relegated to the second division from next season and two second division teams to the third.

Last Sunday, the board of the PZPN admitted it had failed to tackle graft in the game and announced it would step down in September, three months ahead of the end of its mandat