Apart from Czech investment and real estate company Natland Group, former Transport Minister Aleš Řebíček (Civic Democrats, ODS) has also taken a stake in the indebted Slavia football club, he told Czech Position. All of last week, Řebíček had been negotiating the deal, but due to the sensitivity of the issue had kept mum about it.
Natland Group now has a 50.8 percent stake in the club, Řebíček has 33 percent and the remaining 16 percent is in the hands of ENIC, the owner of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, which claims to be the true owner of Slavia before an alleged share scam snatched ownership away from it.
Meanwhile, Slavia on Tuesday got its premier league license from the Czech and Moravian Football Association (ČMFS) — the famous football club succeeded in its appeal and staved off the unthinkable: relegation to play in the depths of the Czech third division in the upcoming season. The licensing tribunal of the ČMFS headed by chairman Ivan Hašek bestowed the coveted license.
At the end of last week, Natland Group settled the club’s debts of Kč 15 million or more in back pay to footballers and other employees, reimbursed arrears to the state and, apparently, also submitted the ownership structure of Slavia and its financial situation for the upcoming season (the budget would inch toward approximately Kč 100 million, to which Natland Group will contribute some Kč 40 million). These were all missing in the refused application of Slavia in early May, when the ČMFS was initially issuing licenses.
Slavia appealed the decision after starting cooperation with the Natland Group, which through a subsidiary assumed the stake held by the alleged club owner Antonín Franc (a chauffeur) and became the majority owner. Many questions remain — chief among them what will happen as regards the Kč 110 million debt sought by former owners ENIC, which is furthermore convinced that it never legally relinquished its stake in the club. Natland Group has brushed off suggestions that it is acting for a strong financial investor and said Tuesday that it was making the purchase with its own funds and for its own sake.
