Poland's setter Marcin Janusz officially announced that he is ending his career in the national team. The news was confirmed by himself in an interview forPrzegląd Sportowy Onet.
I will not be in the national team neither this year nor in the coming ones. I have already had a conversation with the head coach and presented him with my decision ", Janusz states, "I am ending my career in the national team."
The reason is serious – diagnosed secondary liver fibrosis, which forces him to withdraw from the international stage.
The decision formally puts an end to one of the most successful periods for Poland, in which Janusz was the main setter and the figure around whom the game's organization was built. With him on the court, the "Polish squad" achieved silver at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, silver at the 2022 World Championship, and the European title in 2023.
Despite the weight of his name, the reality is that Poland has already taken its first steps without him. In 2025, Janusz was included neither in the squad for the Volleyball Nations League nor in the group for the World Championship in the Philippines, where Nikola Grbić opted for Marcin Komenda and Jan Firlej.
Thus, the current decision does not come as a sudden turn, but as a final closing of a change already underway in the team. Poland has already played a season without Janusz, but the lack of a starting setter of his caliber remains a key issue for Nikola Grbić's staff.
This very question surrounding the organization of the game will be among the leading factors in the upcoming clashes, including against Bulgaria in the VNL on July 15 in Chicago and in the group stage of the European Championship on September 16 in Sofia.