Kováčik Keeps SFZ Presidency as Minister Huliak Pulls Funding

Ján Kováčik won re-election as president of the Slovak Football Association (SFZ) in late February, surviving a vote held against the backdrop of a disputed mobile-phone purchase and a public warning from Sports Minister Rudolf Huliak that the federation could go bankrupt within three months.

Delegates backed Kováčik despite the controversies, and despite Huliak describing the result as a catastrophe and suspending state funding for the SFZ. The minister's move makes the federation a test case for how far the newly created sports portfolio can reach into the affairs of independent sporting bodies.

The phone affair centres on a guarantee the SFZ signed for a private company, Best Press, which was meant to supply 14,000 iPhones and 17,000 Xiaomi devices. After Best Press failed to meet its obligations, three suppliers demanded that the SFZ honour the guarantee. The sides disagree on the details and have announced lawsuits and criminal complaints.

Beyond the immediate dispute, Kováčik's re-election reopens an older chapter: as owner of the former football club Dukla Banská Bystrica, he once proposed bringing the stands closer to the pitch, a move that would have removed the athletics track at the Štiavničky stadium — the facility that helped produce several of Slovakia's most successful athletes.

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Old Dukla Ambitions Cast a Shadow Over Kováčik's New Term

A Mandate With No Real Contest

Kováčik's re-election is not necessarily proof that delegates cleared him in the phone affair. The report notes that he had no meaningful challenger, and many delegates may not know where the truth lies. That weakens the mandate and leaves him exposed if the legal case turns against the federation.

Why the Phone Guarantee Matters More Than the Phones

The substance of the phone case is financial. Best Press was supposed to supply 14,000 iPhones and 17,000 Xiaomi devices to the SFZ, and the federation acted as guarantor with its own assets, with Kováčik signing the commitment. Once Best Press defaulted, three suppliers demanded payment from the SFZ. With the minister's suspension of funding already in place, an adverse court outcome could give real meaning to the three-month bankruptcy warning.

The Dukla Lesson: Stadiums Are Either Shared or Squandered

The old Štiavničky episode is not just a personal anecdote. Kováčik's proposal to pull the stands closer to the pitch would have removed the tartan athletics track used by the army sports club Dukla. The athletes trained there — Martina Hrašnová, Matej Tóth, and later Emma Zapletalová, Gabriela Gajanová and Viktória Forster — went on to win world, Olympic and European medals, and the stadium later hosted the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival and the 2024 European U18 Championships. Had the track been scrapped, the most successful base in Slovak athletics would probably have disappeared.

Less Money, More Cooperation

The wider context is fiscal. With the state of public finances unfavourable, the money available to sport will not grow, yet results are already disappointing — Slovakia took only one bronze in Paris and nothing from Milan-Cortina. The pressure will be on federations to use public funds more efficiently, which in practice means sharing venues, as the Netherlands' multifunctional stadiums show. Kováčik's old idea points in the opposite direction, toward single-purpose football grounds financed from public budgets.

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A Funding Test for Slovak Sport

For Slovak sports officials and anyone following the SFZ dispute, the concrete points to track are the legal outcome of the phone guarantee, the minister's next funding decision, and how the episode shapes the rules for all state-supported federations.

  • SFZ: the unresolved guarantee for Best Press — 14,000 iPhones and 17,000 Xiaomi devices — is the largest identifiable financial exposure; the three suppliers' claims and the announced lawsuits will determine whether Huliak's three-month bankruptcy warning becomes realistic.
  • Other federations: the SFZ case will set a precedent for how far a sports minister can suspend financing of independent associations; the end of the standoff will effectively define the legal boundaries for every federation receiving state money.
  • Federations planning infrastructure: with public budgets tightening, shared multifunctional venues are the realistic path — the Štiavničky track served both football and athletics while producing Olympic and world medalists.