ČMFS to detail its financial past

The Czech Soccer Association (ČMFS) will release March 23 the results of a major forensic audit that should disclose some of the suspicious money flows in Czech soccer over the past four years.

According to preliminary reports that leaked to Czech media, ČMFS lost some 45 million Kč in controversial money transactions under the past management headed by Pavel Mokrý.

ČMFS president Ivan Hašek, who replaced Mokrý last summer, admitted the audit showed some controversial financial manipulation. ČMFS management received the results of the audit in mid-February.

"We've commissioned a law firm to go through the audit and to recommend whether we should file lawsuits against particular officials," Hašek said.

ČMFS Vice Chairman Jindřich Rajchl said ČMFS could even claim compensation from some officials.

Hašek and the new ČMFS management commissioned the audit shortly after taking over the leadership of Czech soccer. The past management headed by Mokrý repeatedly faced suspicions of improper business dealings and corruption. Some of the audit's findings indicate those suspicions were well-founded.

For example, a Brno-based construction firm previously won contracts from ČMFS to build small pitches throughout the country. The company's owners also own the FC Brno soccer club. Mokrý was named the club's general manager only days after he had stepped down as ČMFS president.

"I haven't done anything wrong. The whole thing is just coincidence," Mokrý said.

Meanwhile, club owner Roman Pros said the suspicion of corruption was mere "pub talk."

In another example, ČMFS paid 3.6 million Kč for 40 Breitling watches for members of the Czech national team who participated in Euro 2008. However, the audit showed irregularities in the documents. According to available data, team manager Karel Poborský received two watches, and his signatures were different on the papers that confirmed he received the watches. Poborský told auditors he had received only one watch.

After this story broke, ČMFS issued a statement that the missing watch was locked in a safe and was reserved for midfielder Tomáš Galásek. Galásek has been waiting for the watch, valued at almost 92,000 Kč, for more than a year and a half.

In another bizarre finding, the auditors examined expenses from a business trip by former ČMFS board member Milan Haškovec, who traveled to Germany and Switzerland at the end of 2006. A bill worth about 11 euros caught the attention of auditors because it was reported as a highway toll fee. In fact, tolls on passenger cars are not charged in Germany; Haškovec would have paid a toll only if he had traveled by truck.

"Maybe I took the paper by accident at a gas station," Haškovec said.

The suspicions raised by the audit are not new but go a long way to backing up what has hitherto been rumor. In July 2009, police arrested Mokrý on suspicion of tax evasion. Two others were also arrested: another former ČMFS executive, Václav Chvála, and Ladislav Malý, who was a senior official at the Education and Sports Ministry. Investigations were later halted for a lack of evidence. The police were also investigating the activities of Fotbal Trading, a subsidiary of the ČMFS, which was already in liquidation.

In order to avoid situations like this in the future, Hašek said, the ČMFS created the new position of financial director, responsible for all money operations.

"We want to disclose the past controversies and then leave the past behind," Hašek said.

František Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com