The suspension of funding to the Slovak Football Association (SFZ) by the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of the Slovak Republic is seriously threatening the operation of youth football in Slovakia. The professional football clubs represented by the League Clubs Union are calling on the Ministry of Tourism and Sport to release the earmarked funds intended for academies, coaches and national teams so that they can continue to operate properly. We have reached a point where youth football in Slovakia, including its coaches, has become a hostage to a political dispute. A dispute with no winners, only losers.

It is incomprehensible that those being held hostage are precisely the people who represent the future of the country’s largest sporting movement, as well as those who are responsible for educating and developing them. The hours we all spend on the pitch working with children cannot be rewarded only partially through football clubs. After all, the state has formally committed, through the Slovak Football Association, to supporting youth football in particular. State budget funds that are earmarked for specific purposes and therefore cannot be used for anything else should reach academies, youth talent development centres and amateur clubs. Club and national team coaches have not received part of their salaries for several months, even though the Ministry of Tourism and Sport is supposed to transfer the money to them through the SFZ. We support their demands, because our shared goal should be to improve the quality of youth football and ensure better remuneration for coaches, who are the sporting “teachers” of our children. Unfortunately, the situation has now descended into personal and legal disputes and legislative manoeuvring.

Academies and coaches are asking only for what they are entitled to under their contracts. We therefore call on the Ministry of Tourism and Sport to release the earmarked funds. At the same time, we urge both parties to the dispute to act with the utmost transparency and cooperate fully in order to prevent irreversible damage to Slovak football.