"The face of Dr Pál Schmitt, President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) looked drawn and haggard in a short television spot which flashed across the screen some weeks ago. In the interview, the 64-year-old former Olympic Fencing champion, a member of the opposition Fidesz party and former diplomat, declared that he was in deep trouble.“Just weeks before the start of the Olympics Games in Beijing on Aug 8, MOB is being denied the funding to send out the complete Hungarian team,” declared Schmitt. “At this point, we do not have the money to send out the trainers with the athletes,” he said, “and if the trainer or coach is not there for the youngster, he will be lost in that big foreign jungle, and there go our hopes for bringing back the gold medals we have been working so hard for!”
The MOB is holding a send-off for the team at Tata on Friday. That has replaced a press conference which had been due at the Millenáris Park on same day.If Schmitt is right, why were the public not told of this embarrassing situation before? And why has little else been said since? If the MOB personnel are not working round the clock – the office was closed last weekend – at this late date, and in this serious situation, making publicity, trying to raise additional funds, then something is very wrong all round.
I am not a keen sports follower, but every four years I watch the Olympics for the spectacle. I love to root for my native Hungary as well as for the United States, and for all the dedicated young athletes competing.
This small country, Hungary – much smaller since the Trianon Treaty of 1921 – has produced some of the leading Olympics champions since the Games were revived in 1896 in Athens.
Hungary especially excelled in the Olympics in the Horthy era between the two World Wars, during the 50 years of Soviet occupation, and still leads in fencing, equitation, and acquatics.
As a US citizen, I also root for the American team, knowing that some of their coaches are of Hungarian origin; refugees America took in following WW II, and the Revolt in 1956.
My first reaction was to help, so I contacted the Hungaria Nostra Foundation of Los Angeles, Inc, in my home state of California, USA, to assist the Hungarian Olympics effort.
Founded in 1998, Hungaria Nostra is part of the greater Europa Nostra network based in the Hague. Nostras are dedicated to searching out, restoring and preserving their artistic, architectural and cultural heritage.
Thanks to funds in its US portfolio, Hungaria Nostra has annually awarded $10,000 to a worthy Hungarian cultural cause. Contributions are IRS deductible for US citizens under 501-c-3 designation.
Knowing the strict guidelines of the Foundation, I had to get more details. I sent an email to Schmitt, asking for a clear budget breakdown on the costs so that I and my sister, Judith Ybl, here from her home in Alhambra, California, could assist in the effort to raise private funding.
How many?
I wanted to know specifically how many athletes and trainers in question, what is the calculable cost to send ideally, all, half or one-third of them to the Games? I asked the MOB for a breakdown of costs.
Some days passed when finally the Office Administrator, Dr Zsigmond Nagy replied to my email. Another lapse of time before they came up with the specific figures of the per capita cost to send the athlete and his/her retinue to Beijing.
“The Games begin Aug 8,” explained Dr Zsigmond Nagy. “We are already sending athletes via Hainan Airlines, directly to Beijing. The trip takes 10 hours, and it will take at least a week for them to adjust to the time loss, the strange, unfamiliar conditions, physically and psychologically.
“If the athlete does not have the support system he or she is accustomed to, especially the coach, he or she will be lost out there, and this will mean risking the loss of precious medals which we could have won.”
Director of Marketing, Lajos Babáti told me, “The budget of the MOB has been whittled down each year.
“We are very grateful for private contributions, made directly to the MOB bank account. We do have our major sponsors from years past, and all new supporters of the Hungarian Olympics Team will receive a letter of acknowledgement and the privilege of displaying our logo – the Olympics emblem, topped by the Holy Crown, and the date 1895, signifying the date when the MOB was established,” he said.
“We look forward to seeing all those interested at Tata where the Olympics Camp is located, at the Send-off Party on Saturday, July 19, beginning at 11am.”
Hungarian Olympic Committee
Istvánmezei 1-3, Pest, District XIV
Tel: (+36/1) 386-8000,
(+36/1) 386-9427
Fax: (+36/1) 386-9670
Email: iroda@mob.hu or office@olympic-hun.org
Hungaria Nostra Foundation of Los Angeles Inc - contact
pszabadi@aol.com in Los Angeles
or Mrs T M Zsolnay, 1093 Budapest, Lónyay u. 34, tel. 2179-674."
Source: Budapest Sun
18.07.2008