Poland's government on Monday backed down in its face-off with Fifa, the governing body of world football, agreeing to withdraw a temporary administrator who had taken control of the national football association.

If the government had not retreated, the Polish national squad risked being barred from upcoming matches with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which would mean losing the chance to play in the 2010 World Cup. Poland was also in danger of losing the right to host the 2012 European football championships.

The government is to withdraw its administrator by Tuesday.

The stand-off began last week, when Miroslaw Dzrewiecki, the sports minister, unexpectedly took over the Polish football federation (PZPN), which has been unable to deal with long-running corruption problems.

"There is enough of this mess," Donald Tusk, the football-mad prime minister, said last week. "It's high time to take a risk."

But both Fifa and Uefa, the sport's European governing organisation, stood by Michal Listkiewicz, the long-standing head of PZPN, calling him, "the only legitimate authority to run football in Poland".

The Polish football association has long been a bugbear for governments. In addition to corruption - more than 100 players and officials face charges - it has also been unable to modernise the sport. Teams are underfinanced and weak, compared not only to the rich clubs of western Europe but also to teams in ex-communist countries. Violent fans are a continual problem, as is a lack of modern stadiums. Finally, the national side is a frequent disappointment.

Previous attempts in 1998 and 2007 to take control of the association failed, but this time Mr Tusk's government said it was going to face down Fifa and rebuild the PZPN.

"I hope the authorities of Fifa carefully consider before they punish a country in the centre of Europe," Mr Drzewiecki told the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

The initial move by Mr Drzewiecki had strong public support, and withdrawing so swiftly in the face of Fifa's threats could harm Mr Tusk's government, which is soaring in opinion polls.