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The administrative error that cut off the Czech Basketball Federation from state subsidies for its operation does not affect the Eurobasket tournament, its budget is separate and secured.
“The fees for the possibility to organize a group of this tournament will amount to about 80 million crowns according to the exchange rate. The state has contributed 77 million crowns to them even during of the Minister of Education Plaga,” recapitulates Miroslav Jansta, chairman of the basketball association. “And we will generate the additional 70 million required to organize the tournament from our own resources. Thanks to sponsors and ticket revenue,” he added.
Eurobasket is the modern name for the European Championship. It will be played at the beginning of September in four groups. They are hosted by Cologne, Milan, Tbilisi and Prague. The venue for the last group is Berlin.
“Other countries, where groups are held, contributed a similar amount, Germany the most. But in the end, even the Germans were really cheated by the Georgians, who also built a new hall that there is state funding for the championship,” Jansta pointed out.
The strong Czech team, which participated in the World Cup in China and the Olympic Games in Tokyo, should present itself in the O2 Arena of Prague with all the stars. And that includes Tomáš Satoranský and Jan Veselý, that is, a pair that will soon meet again in the jersey of the Barcelona club.
“The match against Serbia is practically sold out,” revealed Jansta. Current NBA superstar Nikola Jokic should also play in the opponent’s colors. The Czechs will also face Poland, the Netherlands, Finland and Israel in the group.
A fourteen-minute delay was cut by more than 100 million
In addition to looking forward to its big sports holiday, Czech basketball is also living with the trauma that occurred due to a mistake in the department of the general secretary of the domestic basketball association.
The application for a subsidy for the operation of the Czech Basketball Federation was sent from there to the address of the National Sports Agency a few minutes later than the rules for subsidy calls prescribed.
And how could such a thing happen? The deadline for sending applications was announced for Monday, April 4. On Friday, April 1st, it was said that the request was ready to be sent, but the decision was made to leave it for Monday and review the request again at the end of the week or Monday morning.
Furthermore, application processing is flawless. However, basketball officials should have checked others more thoroughly.
In particular, the text of the subsidy call, which for the first time this year specified not only the closing date, here 4/4/2022, but also a figure that specified the whole thing even more. And best of all, he shortened it by half a day. Unions are required to send applications for subsidies no later than Monday 4 April 2022 at 12 noon.
In any case, on D-day it happened that the H-hour also passed. And they are still calm in the basketball union, which of course, comes from constant ignorance. The request for subsidy from basketball players went to NSA at 12:14 pm
Those handling the matter reportedly assumed the deadline would be midnight, “as usual”.
“It is not satisfactory, but I believe that a solution can still be found,” said Miroslav Jansta, head of Czech basketball.
The association, which he leads, intends to ask the state for a subsidy of 123 million crowns, for its activities and operations. But the request went to the NSA 14 minutes later than it should have. And it cannot be positively assessed and compensated. However, basketball players are not alone in this situation.
“Regarding Olympic sports, apart from basketball, the Czech Federation of Modern Gymnastics submitted its application late, while in non-Olympic sports, there are several small associations, often unknown to the wider public,” said Jakub Večerka, spokesperson of the National Sports Agency.
Looking for a solution. “Currently, it seems likely that we will issue a new subsidy call. It is clear that we want to help these unions, but our condition is that the solution will be completely transparent and in accordance with the law,” emphasizes Večerka.
“This is a completely new situation, there is no precedent for it, so now it is up to the legislatures to assess this possibility. That is why I cannot estimate the date of the possible publication of the challenge, but we certainly want to do it before after the vacation,” promised the spokesperson of the National Sports Agency.
Eurobasket 2022 in Prague
The European Basketball Championship (September 1-18, 2022) is divided into 4 main groups. The visitors are Prague, Cologne, Tbilisi and Milan. The championship will therefore take place on boards in 4 European countries.
6 teams were drawn in each group, with the 4 best teams from each group still waiting for a trip to Berlin. The final stage will take place in the German capital in a knockout fashion.
The program of the Czech team in the group: 2.9. with Poland, 3.9. with Serbia (sold out), 5.9. with the Netherlands, 6.9. with Finland, 8.9. with Israel.
Tickets for matches in Prague are sold in four price categories, namely for 490, 790, 1,090 and 1,490 crowns.
There is fan interest in tickets for Eurobasket matches, around 50,000 tickets have been sold for matches of the Prague team to date. The Czechia-Serbia duel was completely sold out.
Note: The original version of the text contained a statement from the NSA spokesperson that the Czech Dance Sports Association was among the entities that sent the subsidy request after the deadline. This is a false claim stemming from a miscommunication with the NSA. The subsidy application of the Czech Dance Sports Association is in fact fine.