Victoria 2 – win or loss?

Victoria means victory. In the case of the project, it can also be a defeat.

“This is nothing else but Victoria 2. When Victoria 1 failed in 2005, 95 percent of the movement breathed a sigh of relief,” said shooting president Miloslav Benca. “A small group – and I don’t use this expression by accident – proposed such a system to suit its members.” In the team of Victoria 1 during Dzurinda’s government, today’s minister Jurzyca appeared as head of INEKO. From sport only the general secretary of the Slovak Tennis Association, Igor Moska. Apart from Tokos, who was already a football businessman back then. “We are an expert group, no one here represents a specific sport,” he reassures as the minister’s adviser. “Neither Moska for tennis, nor Filc for hockey, nor Galovic for water slalom, nor I for football.” “It wasn’t a bolt from the blue, we presented the starting points more than six years ago,” he says. He is right, but so is Benca when it comes to the reception of both Victorias.

All members of the team agreed with the primary philosophy. “The definition of success is not only a medal and tears – that’s one thing. If it is not to have an impact on social life, on people incorporating sport more into their lives, then it is a wasted opportunity, like in the case of hockey gold. That is why we included popularity in the formula,” Filc defends the principle. But measuring it is difficult. The ministry’s attempt to express domestic and international popularity precisely ended up poorly. “Which sport do you like?” the agency asked Slovaks. Hockey won ahead of football. From swimming in third place and hiking in tenth, however, it was already clear that some respondents did not know whether they were being asked about what they like to do themselves or what they prefer as spectators. From the answers to the second question “Which sport would you support?” the flaw in the survey was obvious, because respondents did not know where it was heading: hiking finished second right behind hockey, “dance” was fifth and “ballroom dance” seventh… “How many people would answer in a survey with the question, which professions to support, that it should be state officials?” asks gymnastics head Jan Novak of the ministry. Monitoring of domestic media did not reflect that there are federations that pay for newspapers to report on the results of their competitions – let alone that they prioritize those on which betting takes place, since the owner is a betting company… Popularity is simply a complicated matter, and all ministry documents are essentially unreliable.