Slovnaft boss is building million-euro academy

The owner of the Dunajská Streda club and CEO of the Bratislava refinery

Two years ago, the Dunajská Streda football club drew attention for delayed player wages, being cut off from water and electricity, and the non-transparent management of its Austrian owner of Iranian origin, Khashayar Mohseni. After the entry of new owner Oszkár Világi in March 2014, the club stabilised and is now preparing a project unique by Slovak standards – the most modern and most expensive football academy in the country, with construction costs estimated at 15 million euros. Ministry officials have been assessing the project’s environmental impact since Monday. The academy is to be built within two years in the western part of Dunajská Streda, near the village of Kostolné Kračany. “This year we will finish four pitches and the first part of the changing rooms. Next year we should begin construction of the main building,” Világi, the club’s owner and also CEO of Slovnaft, told the Economic Daily.

End to the departure of talent
The main reason for the investment is to follow the trends of major European clubs, where such academies have operated for decades. It should also help reduce the growing number of Slovak talents leaving for better training conditions abroad. “At present, many young players go abroad because there is no professional environment here,” says Világi. The academy, which is currently 80% financed from the owner’s own resources, will include ten football pitches (four of them with artificial turf) and a main building. The building will house rehabilitation centres, a coaches’ centre, a social room, changing rooms, and a dining hall. The head of DAC 1904 could not specify the exact completion date, but construction of the main building is set to begin early next year. The planned 15-million-euro complex represents the largest investment in youth football in Slovakia. “Any step by an owner who invests millions of euros into building such an academy for his club is commendable,” says sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos.

Footballers under the microscope
One of the greatest advantages of a modern football academy is that the club has all its players under close observation and under one roof. This was confirmed for the Economic Daily by Karol Belaník, sporting director of the Žilina team. That club has operated a similar academy longer than anyone in Slovakia – since 2007. “You know in detail the players’ performance, their behaviour in critical situations, and their progress in training. Such an academy can best prepare players for the needs of the first team,” Belaník said. Another equally important factor is identification with the club, its philosophy, and its system – and, in the case of good academy management and integrating youngsters into the senior team, their potential sale abroad in the future. “Given the economic conditions in Slovakia, it is crucial for a local football club to have a functioning academy,” Belaník states. According to him, while teams can buy quality foreign players, their behaviour, off-field qualities, and adaptation to a new environment cannot be predicted. “And we know all the important things about our own homegrown players,” he adds.

A profitable investment
The best academies in Slovakia are currently in Žilina and in Senica. Sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos points out that while millions of euros are being invested in building and modernising dozens of stadiums in Slovakia, little is being invested in youth development. That is why he believes the decision of the Dunajská Streda owner is the right one. “Moreover, an investment in an academy may have a better return than money put into a stadium,” says Tokos. Ticket sales for Slovak clubs will almost certainly not bring in as much money as the potential sale of talented academy players to foreign clubs.