Prime Minister Viktor Orbán signed an agreement in Parliament with leaders of 16 sport associations. At the event, the Prime Minister emphasised that the goal of the agreement is to ensure that successful athletes need not work abroad.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared that a significant pay rise would be given to those trainers who mentor athletes who achieve outstanding results, adding that Hungary is in a position to utilize its economic resources to spend on sports and recruitment even in crisis, because the future of Hungary is in the hands of our children, and when children are involved, nothing is too expensive.
Regarding the role of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, the Prime Minister said that there is no Ministry for Sports, because the Government did not want a large part of sports management to become the task of public administration, adding that only a small State Secretariat for Sport is functioning that supports the activities of the Hungarian Olympic Committee.
According to Governmental Spokesperson András Giró-Szász the Government will be supporting 16 sport disciplines with HUF 135 billion between 2014 and 2020, including table tennis, athletics, wrestling, rowing, judo, canoe and kayak, cycling, skating, boxing, pentathlon, volleyball, competitive shooting, tennis, gymnastics, swimming and fencing. These sports do not have access to money originating from tax enjoyed by the five most popular team sports in Hungary: football, basketball, handball, ice hockey and water polo.
(Prime Minister's Office)
