Poland ended the IMMAF World Championships with a single bronze medal ©IMMAF

Poland's team has said it will work to avoid a repeat of the situation which saw a number of its squad withdraw from the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) World Championships due to COVID-19.

The country's medal hopes largely stayed away from the event in Abu Dhabi last month, including Magdalena Czaban who was among the favourites in the women's senior atomweight class.

Czaban tested positive for coronavirus with Poland ending the World Championships with just one bronze medal.

This came courtesy of Paulina Wiśniewska, who reached the semi-finals of the women's flyweight division.

"The day we received test results was the worst we have yet had," said a Polish statement.

"In a few minutes we understood that all those people, which we believed had a chance to fight for gold medals, now can't get on the plane. 

"Months of hard training in their clubs, during training camps with our coaches, both with sacrificing their jobs and their free time. 

"They did everything they could to show how much the World Championships meant to them. 

Magdalena Czaban was due to be a big favourite for Poland in Abu Dhabi but had to withdraw after contracting COVID-19 ©IMMAF
Magdalena Czaban was due to be a big favourite for Poland in Abu Dhabi but had to withdraw after contracting COVID-19 ©IMMAF

"Those who had negative results also didn't feel good as one side had to leave their team-mates and, for a few hours, there was a chance we would cancel our Abu Dhabi mission. 

"This for sure had them out of balance."

Poland is now looking forward to the European Championships which are due to be scheduled this year.

"To be honest this isn't our tournament and we were sure it was going to be," the statement continued. 

"So we are now focusing on preparing for the European Championships and creating procedures that will allow us to avoid such situations in the future. 

"From the economic side, it's also a big hit for our federation, but mostly we want our athletes to get back on the proper way of thinking. 

"We will do everything we can to bring those faces back at the next IMMAF tournament."