Abuse of subsidies at the tennis association. The police intervened in his residence, charged four people

The police charged four people and four legal entities for abusing the subsidies provided by the state to the Czech Tennis Association (ČTS) to support the sport. He is prosecuting them for subsidy fraud and for negotiating an advantage when awarding a public contract. Supervising public prosecutor Ondřej Trčka stated this on the website of the High Prosecutor’s Office in Prague. Today, the National Central Office against organized crime intervenes in ČTS, in addition to the headquarters of the union, detectives also intervene in other cities where tennis clubs are located.

“As part of the investigation, the police authority is conducting house searches and searches of other premises in a number of places in Prague and in other cities. In view of the ongoing criminal proceedings, no further information will be provided at this time,” Trčka wrote.

“I can only say that our department is carrying out criminal proceedings today. The provision of information is reserved for the High Prosecutor’s Office in Prague,” said department spokesman Jaroslav Ibehej. Representatives of the tennis association did not respond to a request for interviews.

According to Radiožurnál, the union had to pay out tens of millions of crowns from the state subsidy of the association Orel Jednota Praha – Balkan, which is led by the influential tennis official Vojtěch Flégl. For 2021 alone, it was supposed to be more than 40 million crowns, which was almost a third of the total subsidy that the association received to support its sport in the Czech Republic. At the same time, part of the money intended for organizing tournaments was supposed to end up in the accounts of Flégl’s companies.

Flégl is one of the close associates of union president Ivo Kaderka. He is a member of the Supervisory Board and the CTS Council. The association was to continue to pay the money intended for the organization of tournaments to companies for individual services, while some of them were to belong to Flégl or his family members.