The most well-renowned and most decorated club of Hungary, Ferencvaros (hereinafter may be referred to as FTC or Fradi) is facing a police investigation and public backlash for misappropriation of 25 billion Hungarian forints (in today's exchange rates, about 68 million Euros). The money was originally allocated by the government for a sports complex 'Fradi-varos' (Fradi-city), which has not been built ever since, while the club claims that the money was legally used for other purposes. The money was allocated in two stages: First, in 2016, the Hungarian government earmarked 10 billion HUF in 2016 for the first phase of the projects[1] , while a further 15 billion HUF was allocated in 2017[2] . By the 28th of April, FTC have obtained rights over management of a site, explicitly stating their intentions [3] [4] . The plans were to rebuild the former 'Epitok' sports ground in Nepliget, which sits beside the current facilities of Ferencvaros, from its currently dormant state to be a multi-sport complex for Ferencvaros. In more exact terms, the plan included football facilities, a multi-purpose building suitable for hosting events for sports such as fencing, boxing, wrestling, table tennis and gymnastics, as well as facilities for their swimming and water polo teams, an ice rink for their hockey team, as well as more, including a hotel and a chapel[5] . At this stage of the project, construction was supposed to begin in 2023 and finish by 2025, and FTC signed a contract worth about 7.5 billion HUF with Paulinyi & Partners Zrt. just to design the plans for the project. On New Years' Day 2022, club President Gabor Kubatov argued that due to COVID-19 (and later, the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine) the government's decision to halt certain state investments derailed the plan, but still promised a finishing date some time in 2026. The key development in the project happened in December of 2022, when the Hungarian Government amended the funding decisions [6] . The amendment allowed for the funding to be written off in the category of 'operational expenses'. In December of 2025 another amendment was made, which changed the wording to allow for not only operational expenses, but also 'investment-related expenditure' [7] . While the project never materialized, in 2026 the new state secretary responsible for sport (Attila Kalnoki-Kiss) uncovered that FTC's own accounting shows that inbetween 2019 and 2024, 11.2 billion HUF from the 25 billion HUF was transferred to the company operating the football division. The company allegedly used the money to acquire registration rights for up to 38 players, which, for most of the time period, was still not appropriate usage of the funds [8] [9] . The issue was brought to light by one of the fan groups of FTC. One of the admins of the Facebook community 'Ferenczvarosi C-kozep' submitted a public interest complaint to the Hungarian State Audit Office (Hereinafter: ASZ), regarding the accounting and usage of the allocated 25 billion HUF. ASZ itself did not file a criminal complaint, but forwarded it to the Budapest Police, as 'hutlen kezeles', best translated to 'breach of fiduciary duties' or 'misappropriation' is out of their scope [10] [11] . Initially, the Budapest Police Headquarters (hereinafter: BRFK) ordered a supplementary examination of the complaint, and by 21st of July, they have opened a criminal investigation. The authorities have refrained from providing further information, and no further official developments have been made since then. On the side of FTC, Kubatov has consistently rejected all claims that the money was improperly handled [12] . They have always maintained that the funding remained within the entity Ferencvaros and that the money had been used according to the conditions prescribed by the Hungarian State. In response to the 11.2 billion HUF that was allegedly spent on acquiring players, they quickly provided documentation that, in their view, prove that the spending was lawful. Their position is that the project was genuinely prepared, however, the circumstances prevented its completion and the subsequent use of funds was legal. Meanwhile, UEFA decided not to open up any investigations [13] . They argued that club-licensing and financial sustainability rules do not prohibit clubs from receiving state support from their own country [editor's note: otherwise the entirety of Hungarian football would be banned], provided the relevant financial sustainability rules are met. Sources: 1 - 2016 original allocation 2 - 2017 secondary funding 3 - 2021 annual report appendix 4 - 2018 annual report appendix 5 - 2022 plans 6 - Hungarian Gazette on the funding in 2022 7 - Hungarian Gazette on the funding in 2025 8 - Attila Kalnoki-Kiss's statements, 24.hu 9 - Attila Kalnoki-Kiss's statements, hvg.hu 10 - Telex on the actions of ASZ 11 - Index on the actions of ASZ 12 - Kubatov's latest statements 13 - UEFA's statements   submitted by   /u/DatOgreSpammer [link]   [comments]