Janusz Bogdan Kupcewicz (9 December 1955 – 4 July 2022)[1] was a Polish professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

[10] He was at the 1978 tournament as a reserve player, but by the 1982 World Cup he was a key member of the squad, with Poland finishing in third place.

[8][11] He then went on to coach the then sixth division Pomeranian club Radunia Stężyca[10][9] between 1996 and 1999,[14] the Polish U-21 team as assistant manager 1999–2001,[11] briefly Lechia Gdańsk in 1995,[11] and between 2004 and 2005 lower league Cartusia Kartuzy.

[17][18] Then, having switched to the Polish People's Party, he ran as a candidate for the Pomeranian Voivodeship Assembly in 2010 and to the lower house of parliament in 2011.

Late in his life, Kupcewicz was in deteriorating health, leading to his death due to a stroke on 3 July 2022 at the age of 66.

[8] Grzegorz Lato stated he was incredibly saddened and shocked at the news of his death as they only spoke recently and that they were very close friends in regular contact with each other.

[4][6][3] Regarded as an exceptionally talented player, he was judged to have never reached his full potential due to persistent injuries during his playing career.

[22] His involvement in the infamous Polish football corruption scandal was never fully explained; he never denied the allegations that he handled and transported bribes, but claimed in court he was far too drunk to remember the exact details.