Leszek Rylski mourned
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
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Leszek Rylski, a member of the UEFA Executive Committee from 1956 to 1968 and former chairman of the UEFA Finance Committee, has passed away at the age of 96.
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UEFA and Polish football are mourning the passing at the age of 96 of Leszek Rylski, a member of the UEFA Executive Committee for 12 years in the 1950s and 1960s, and a much-respected official within European football's governing body for more than three decades.
Rylski was born on 6 December 1919 in Suwalki, Poland. A keen footballer in his youth, he played for RKS Marymont Warszawa and subsequently became club president. A prominent career in football administration beckoned, and he served as the Polish Football Federation (PZPN) general secretary between 1959 and 1972.
He became a member of the UEFA Executive Committee in 1956, participating in the fledgling body's early decision-making, and served until 1968. He was a member of the organising committee for the European Champion Clubs' Cup during the same period. From 1966–68, Rylski was chairman of the UEFA Finance Committee, and he was also a member of this committee from 1968 to 1972.
Membership of the UEFA Youth Committee from 1982 was followed by a four-year term as a member of the UEFA Board of Appeal. Leszek Rylski was awarded the UEFA Order of Merit in Ruby at the Ordinary UEFA Congress in Copenhagen in 2009. He was a member of UEFA's Amicale des Anciens circle of former UEFA committee members.
A keen supporter of UEFA EURO 2012, which was jointly staged in Poland and Ukraine, he was given a special honour last year in receiving a unique Polish national team jersey with his name and the number 95, his age at the time, from current PZPN president Zbigniew Boniek.
