2014 budget earmarks HUF 100bn for stadium investments

Although the Hungarian national football team didn’t make it to the World Cup, the 2014 budget will ensure that further investments are made in the sport.

Taxpayers will shell out HUF 82.8 billion for the ongoing development of the National Olympic Center, also known as the Tüskecsarnok, including its swimming pool, the stadia of club sides Debrecen, Ferencváros, Diósgyőr, Videoton and Szombathelyi Haladás, and the National Stadium development programme. The latter will cost HUF 12 billion, including the HUF 0.7-1.0 billion reconstruction of Pécs’s PMFC-Mathas stadium. The programme does not specify project details regarding the HUF 4.5 billion state subsidy given to Székesfehérvár’s Videoton, the reconstruction of the Haladás stadium in Szombathely or the work to Diósgyőr’s DVTK stadium.

Newly promoted Mezőkövesd-Zsóry FC, which boasts Interior Ministry state secretary Miklós Tállai as its president, got HUF 400 million from the 2013 budget to cover the requisite ground improvements for a top flight team. The club received funding from the local council and Tállai’s own ministry, in tandem with HUF 190 million via preferential corporate tax breaks.

The original article was published on 25 October 2013 in Hungarian. Translated by Áron Halász. Edited by Dan Nolan.