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When Příbram is mentioned, some people think of a mining town, while others think of the baroque Svatá Hora complex. But for most people, at least football fans, the name Jaroslav Starka probably comes to mind.
In the media, this businessman is repeatedly associated with organized crime. Many will probably still remember the scene shot from the police helicopter, when the Rapid Deployment Unit spectacularly arrested him on the highway. At the time, he was suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of Radovan Krejčíř’s father.
Nothing was proven, however, when after Krejčíř’s escape, a promissory note signed by Starka was found in his villa for 44 million crowns, the state began to recover the money from Starka. And that’s how Jaroslav Starka transferred the property to relatives. He transferred the club, now called FK Viagem Příbram, to his son Jan Starka. The father is listed as club president, an honorary position, not a statutory one.
By the way, the vice president of the club is Vlastimil Spěvák, another man often associated with the underworld. After all, Stark and Spévák did not meet at the funeral of Jan Kočka, who was shot by businessman Bohumír Ďuričko, who happened to be the man from whom Stark once bought the Dukla Praha club. He combined it with the Příbram team, and then moved the league and the famous trophies of the carnival season to Příbram. Before Petr Paukner bought them back and returned them to Juliska.
Football in Příbram is often associated by fans from all over the country with suspicions of all kinds of fraud, which can be summed up in the famous sentence from the police wiretapping: “So is it Ivan’s money or Jarda’s?”
But football Příbram also has another face, a very successful and effective youth work. In the current national team, we can find Antonín Barák and Václav Černý, once Dominik Mašek and Miroslav Slepička paid for the enormous talent, Jakub Řezníček, Tomáš Zápotočný and many others left the club.
Barák and Černý were personally raised in their own image by their fathers, well-known experts, of whom the Příbram club surprisingly never had a shortage, and in this context it is also impossible not to mention Josef Csaplár.
But let’s focus on the Barák family. Antonín the elder is a recognized expert in the development of the youth movement, especially in the field of preparation and very young skilled in the art of football. He joined the project of building regional academies and then left Strahov because of disputes with the Roman Berbers. It was after the fall of Berber that he joined the group of the F-evolution movement.
His son, Antonín Jr. had a great football career. After moving from Příbram, he won the championship with Slavia and then went to Italy. He played there for Udine, Lecce and Verona, now he is active in Fiorentina.
In Udine, he endured a difficult test of fate, when he stopped for too long and treated a serious back injury. He is fine now, he shines on the pitches, sometimes even Tottenham are seriously interested in him.
And now I get to the heart of the story. I recently saw the shocking discovery that the Baráks want to buy the Příbram football club from the Starks. True, it was two years ago and they did not agree. But until now this information has remained secret.
“My son and I have been talking about that option for several years. He has friends, economists, likely to find investors. Our idea, which appealed to many interesting people, is the connection of sport with education. Sport can build character and morals in children, the ability to overcome psychological pressures and create qualities that the bearers will always be interested in big companies,” said Antonín Barák the elder.
“Just for fun, Tonda and I have detailed the staffing of the club’s management. But in the end, we didn’t get along with the Starks back then. They asked for a higher price for the club than Mr. Paukner for Dukla Praha,” concluded Antonín Barák Sr.
According to Jan Starka, there have been no serious negotiations with the Barákovs regarding the sale of the club. “However, we are always interested in bringing in a strategic partner who can help stabilize the club,” said Jan Starka.
However, the situation is complicated by many factors. Both the complex ownership relationship with the land under the Příbram football complex, as well as the criminal prosecution carried out against the club as a legal entity in the case of Disinfection.
Magician of the week: Tomáš Satoranský
Athletes who earn $10 million a year, which is the amount that Tomáš Satoranský earned in the NBA for several years, sometimes “rake” a bit and it develops negative personality traits, usually a certain spoiledness and star behavior.
However, no such process took place with Tomáš Satoranský. belt Every person who comes in contact with him more often than not appreciates his excellent behavior and unusual character. And it shows in actions that speak louder than words.
Two weeks before the EuroBasket tournament, Satoranský injured his ankle. Ninety-nine percent of people will say something like, “Sorry, the doctors said the ankle needs 4-6 weeks of rest. There’s nothing I can do, I can’t risk damaging the joint, which of course I will need for my future career. I’ll cheer you on, but now I’m going to the sea.” And no one will say ash.
But Tomáš Satoranský really made an incredible effort to play for the Czech national team at the EuroBasket in Prague. And in order to speed up the treatment of the ankle as much as possible, he invited an expert from Washington, Naveen Hettiarachchi, whose physiotherapy methods can indicate these miracles. According to one source, Satoranský paid him $3,500, according to another, $4,000 a day, from his own funds, to enter EuroBasket.
The Czech media followed this story and used the term “shaman” in relation to Hettiarachchi, which angered Satoranský. He interpreted this as lowering the expert’s professional reputation. I can say to myself that I have no specific intention of that kind, I highly respect the professional wisdom of Naveen Hettiarachchi and the term shaman is only used in exaggeration, like today in the caricature of our cartoonist David.
What’s most important: Satoranský’s ankle has recovered enough that the Czech basketball star can play in the tournament. And even though Satoranský looked limited compared to his optimal condition, he helped the Czech team advance from the Prague group. And he also became famous in the round of 16 battle with the Greeks in Berlin. Although lost in battle, but only after a very exciting and dramatic battle.
It’s probably too pathetic, but it’s true: Tomáš Satoranský showed that an athlete can be a role model not only in the game, but also in his approach to the world around him. Thanks for that.
Hits of the week
The agent is on the microphone. Viktor Kolář, head of the Sport Invest agency, is an exclusive guest of the Nosiči vody podcast. The speech revolves around the strict conditions for issuing work permits after Brexit, around the Spartan reinforcement of Matěj Kovář, but there are many other questions.
Bookmakers fight for hockey. We first opened the topic of exceptions from the exclusivity of Tisport in the hockey extraleague industry. And then we also reported the resolution of Kometa by Brno and Motor by Budejovice.
Super couple. Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková conquered the so-called career grand slam in New York, which is an amazing achievement. Petr Pravda wrote more about it.
Roll with Ancelotti. According to the Kicker poll, the best coach in the world is Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid. Petr Rada flashed an unusual memory to him.
Hradec, that’s Rum. The story of Pavel Černý, the greatest legend of Hradec Králové football, known as Rum, is written by Stanislav Hrabě.
Tweet of the week
Czech hockey joins Swedish and Finnish hockey. Players who signed contracts with the Russian KHL after the Russian military invaded Ukraine will not be invited to national team events. In Slovakia, they analyzed the situation differently in this regard. And Shooty, Slovak caricaturist Denník N, got it the hard way.
What they hit elsewhere
Arena next to the ice. Plans for the construction of many large multi-functional halls have not yet been realized, due to the economic conditions made difficult by the war in Ukraine. (game)
Sparta in the Champions League. And against AS Rome. No, that’s not bullshit. This is the female version of the competition, where Eva Bartoňová, a former Inter Milan player, is invited. (Football club)
Twitter took a hit. Roman Jedlička showed in practice what miracles social networks can do. Rokycany-Liberec made a good campaign out of a dozen cup matches on Twitter football hit
How are they in England? He has the best accounting insight of Premier League clubs Swiss Ramble account. (Twitter)
War, energy prices, elections… I keep saying, take a break from all of this at least for a moment in sports.