The structure of Slovak football clubs ownership is unclear

Zdroj: SME

The majority of Slovak first-league clubs is not willing to inform neither about their shareholders nor about budgets, assets and financial activity public.

„Who would like to make a business in the field of football, if structures and ownership relations are not clear, liabilities are confidential?“ asks Jozef Tokos, a sports lawyer and a licensed players´ agent.

Non-transparent financing, non-transparent ownership relations discourage new investments, which could increase the quality and attractiveness of the first football league.

„Was the problem with the football club Slovan Bratislava solved in a transparent way? Was the liability of 250 millions acknowledged? Do we know who the creditors are and who a new investor is?“ poses questions Tokos.

The condition of the Slovak Football Association (SFA) that clubs, aspiring to play in the highest football league, have to be joint-stock companies could be a step towards higher financial transparency. Till recently some clubs were civil associations. After the obligatory establishment of joint-stock companies, they became shareholders of professional clubs. Nevertheless, we still cannot talk about an effective ownership structure bringing investment into the football. In addition, civil associations do not have sufficient financial capital.

On the other hand, there are a lot of businessmen, about whom we know that they have invested in the football: the owner of TV JOJ Ivan Kmotrik have invested in Petrzalka Artmedia, a joint owner of TV Markiza Milan Filo in Ruzomberok, Vladimir Poor who privatized Nafta Gbely invested in Trnava. However, there is a question whether they consider football to be business or just fun.

“Years ago, when I started my career in the show business, I felt that there was a huge unfilled gap in the market. I have the same feelings about football. I consider it to be a business project. I was thinking about it a lot and I calculated everything,” said Jan Kovacik, another important player on the Slovak media scene, the joint owner of TV Markiza and the owner of Dukla Banska Bystrica, for the SME daily.

The Slovak football is not yet harmed by corruption cases known from the Czech Republic. The management of clubs made agreements with referees and this way manipulated results of some first and second football league matches.

„I am absolutely sure that there are no manipulations being made in our first or second league matches,“ says Dusan Tittel, a SFA secretary.

In spite of this fact, according to Jozef Satek, a director of the Department of fight against corruption, the police operating units have started “to work actively” in the football environment.