Hungarian football is “very much alive”, declared Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in an interview published Friday by the daily Nemzeti Sport.
In his interview, the Prime Minister said he had no doubt “even for a moment” about the revival of Hungarian football, but said: “Nevertheless, it is in football that I I made the biggest mistake of the last ten years: we built a stadium for 64,000 visitors rather than 90,000. we were narrow-minded, and that’s not true.
The reason why Hungarian football “is good is not that the academic training system has suddenly improved or that we have better coaches. but because the whole country has evolved in the same direction: we have started to progress,” he said, adding that he was referring “not only to the economy, but also to culture, arts and to science.” He said that “the desire for a higher standard of living is now present in Hungary, in the lives of individuals and also in small communities.”
Regarding Hungarian football academies, the Prime Minister said the system had arrived “at the end of an era” and that their operation and financing would change significantly, with an emphasis on achievement. “We will not focus on what happens in the academies but on the players who come out of them,” he added.
Orbán said sports academies would continue to be supervised by the state, but “we will now move to a results system and if that works we might consider another arrangement.” He also said he longed for the return of a time from his childhood, in which “there were no academies, just clubs”.
Clubs today are “under such financial pressure that if they have to choose, they will prefer the first team to succession. they don’t yet have enough money to run an academy,” Orbán said. He also added that the academic system was a “guarantee of tomorrow”. a great help for sports. Unless the clubs are strong enough, we need the state-run academy system.
There is no better place than Budapest for international sports organizations
Orbán said support for sports should be seen as support for parents in raising their children.
He said many efforts had been made to bring out Hungarians’ commitment to the sport and the results were now awaited. Coaches were recognized, sports facilities were developed and major international competitions were organized in Hungary, to allow athletes to show their skills on their home field, he added.
He said he had bad feelings about the 2017 withdrawal of Budapest’s bid for the 2024 Olympics. However, today the situation is different; all important facilities needed for the Olympic Games have been completed and “Budapest can hardly develop greatly without hosting the Olympic Games,” he added.
Budapest’s development level is 160 percent of that of the European Union, while parts of rural Hungary have a development level of 50 percent, he said. “All money should be directed to less developed regions,” he added.
Large-scale development in Budapest can only take place if the city offers something important for all Hungarians, he said.
He also said that Hungary has strong sports diplomatic representation in international organizations, not only in football but also in the Olympic movement. “There is no better place than Budapest for international sports organizations,” he added.
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