Injury rules out Poland's Kuszczak
Friday, June 6, 2008
Article summary
Poland have lost their third-choice goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak to a back injury and have sought permission to replace him with Wojciech Kowalewski.
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MRI scan
The 26-year-old Manchester United FC custodian underwent an MRI scan in Graz, Austria on Friday after hurting his spine and doctors decided that he would be out of action for three weeks, effectively ruling him out of the finals. Poland coach Leo Beenhakker has requested permission to bring in Korona Kielce's Wojciech Kowalewski as his replacement. Poland, who open their Group B campaign against Germany in Klagenfurt on Sunday, have now had two players withdraw within two days, with injured midfielder Jakub Błaszczykowski making way for Łukasz Piszczek.
Rules and regulations
According to Article 16.05 of the Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship: "In the event of serious injury to a listed player before his team's first match in the final tournament, the player in question may be substituted only if a doctor from the UEFA Medical Committee and the team doctor concerned both confirm that the injury is sufficiently serious to prevent the player from taking part."