Thousands attend an anti-government rally organized by Poland's main opposition party

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of people attended an anti-government rally organized by Poland's nationalist conservative opposition party to boost support before next year's presidential election.

Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski called on supporters to be active at social and political levels and to back the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election. He hasn't yet named the candidate.

Kaczynski also accused the pro-European Union government of acting against the nation’s interests and violating its laws and cited recently opened investigations into allegations of mismanagement and corruption of the Law and Justice government.

Up to 4,000 people with national white-and-red flags gathered for the rally held in windy weather outside the Justice Ministry in Warsaw, which has become a symbol of years of deep rifts between the backers of Kaczynski and Donald Tusk, now the prime minister and leader of the center-right Civic Platform party.

Law and Justice, which governed Poland for nearly a decade from 2015 until 2023, drew criticism from Brussels and Tusk alike for making changes to Poland’s judicial system that were deemed undemocratic.

Many in the nation of 38 million people were also tired of the aggressive and divisive language that Kaczynski, who dictated the government's policies from the sidelines, used to energize support.

The party lost power in the 2023 election, but is still exerting control through President Andrzej Duda, who is allied with Law and Justice. Duda, whose second and last term runs out in August, has been blocking many of the government's draft laws.

Leader of Poland's right-wing opposition party Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, right, attends the party's protest rally of a few thousand backers against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Leader of Poland's right-wing opposition party Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, left, attends the party's protest rally of a few thousand backers against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet, before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Backers of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice take part in a protest ally of a few thousand people against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Leader of Poland's right-wing opposition party Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, front, attends the party's protest rally of a few thousand backers against the policies of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Cabinet before the Ministry of Justice, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk attends solemn ceremonies at Westerplatte, on the Baltic Sea, Poland, on Sept. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Wojciech Strozyk)

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA teamed up with the World Health Organization on Wednesday for a campaign to educate the soccer industry about the risks of concussion injuries.

“Concussion is a public health issue of concern at all levels of football, and many other sports, requiring greater levels of awareness and action,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

Ten years after the alarming case in the 2014 World Cup final of Germany player Christoph Kramer, world soccer governing body FIFA is sending a toolkit to each of its 211 national federations to help teach at all levels of soccer that symptoms of a head injury can take up to 72 hours to appear.

Kramer continued to play in the final against Argentina for 14 minutes after being injured despite being in clear distress. Match referee Nicola Rizzoli later said he alerted Germany players after Kramer asked if he was playing in the final.

At the 2022 World Cup, Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand was treated for several minutes on the field after clashing heads with a teammate, then continued to play on against England before finally being replaced.

FIFA favors letting teams make an extra substitution to remove immediately a player with a suspected head injury. That lets team medical staff evaluate injuries at length without the pressure of trying to send players back into the game.

At soccer’s rules-making panel, known as IFAB, FIFA has consistently blocked proposals to allow temporary substitutions that would let injured players with a suspected concussion be assessed just for several minutes before potentially returning to the game. FIFA medical advice is that symptoms can take up to 72 hours to develop.

“The symptoms of a concussion can change or evolve within the minutes, hours, days and even weeks after the traumatic event,” FIFA said of the new “Suspect and Protect” campaign. “No match is worth the risk.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE- Iran's goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand reacts after sustaining an injury during the World Cup group B soccer match between England and Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Nov. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - Germany's Christoph Kramer lies on the pitch as teammate Thomas Mueller assists him, during the World Cup final soccer match between Germany and Argentina at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Francois Xavier Marit, Pool, File)