Ministry Suspends Funding for Slovak Football Association

Bratislava, 30 July (TASR) - The Tourism and Sport Ministry has temporarily suspended funding for the Slovak Football Association (SFZ), TASR learnt on Thursday. The ministry announced the measure in a press release, saying that there's a need to review the association's procedures when concluding legal steps related to the supply of mobile phones. "Based on the law and a written opinion from the Chief Sports Auditor (HKS), the ministry is temporarily suspending the eligibility of the recipient of public funds (SFZ) for the period strictly necessary to investigate a possible serious deficiency," said the ministry. It added that the HKS review focused on examining SFZ's procedures in concluding guarantee agreements, commitments or other forms of securing obligations related to the supply of mobile phones under contractual relationships with several companies. According to the ministry, SFZ submitted several versions of guarantee agreements to the Chief Sports Auditor without specifying a particular amount. At the same time, it failed to comply with the controller's request to provide additional materials and complete documentation that would allow the price, quantity of goods and overall extent of the secured obligations to be reliably determined. "It is therefore not possible to establish the amount for which the guarantee agreements were signed or whether they were signed in accordance with SFZ statutes and internal regulations, including whether the financial limit requiring approval by the SFZ Conference under the statutes was exceeded," the ministry stated. Tourism and Sport Minister Rudolf Huliak (Independent) said that the decision to temporarily suspend SFZ funding was also based on the Sports Act. "If there is a justified suspicion of a serious deficiency, the Sport Ministry may, based on the opinion of the Chief Sports Auditor, temporarily suspend a recipient's eligibility as a recipient of public funds for the period strictly necessary to investigate a possible serious deficiency," he quoted the legislation as saying. The Slovak Football Association reported on its website on Wednesday that it had information from the office of the Chief Sports Auditor indicating that the Tourism and Sport Ministry was planning to suspend payment of the third instalment of the recognised sport contribution allocated to SFZ for 2026, worth more than €4 million. "If this information is confirmed, it will represent a serious intervention in the financing of Slovak football," said the association in a statement. "This doesn't concern funding for the Slovak Football Association as an organisation, but primarily financial resources intended for youth football, national teams, developing talented players, regional football associations and hundreds of football clubs across Slovakia. We consider it to be extremely concerning that this step is being taken despite the fact that other national sports associations have already received their funding in accordance with the Sports Act. This raises the question of why a different approach is being applied specifically to the Slovak Football Association." SFZ said that it believes any such suspension of funding has no basis on the facts of the case. It plans to immediately use all available legal means to protect Slovak football and to secure the release of funds to which it is legally due and that are intended for all areas of Slovak football. The association also said it was preparing a criminal complaint over the suspected misuse of the powers of a public official, arguing that there's a reasonable suspicion that public authority was being exercised beyond the legal limit, causing serious harm to Slovak football in the process. mf/df