<i>“I started a joke, which started the whole world crying, but I didn't see that the joke was on me, oh no.”</i><br /> (The Bee Bees)<br /><br /> It’s a sad, sad situation. As it turns out, the new owner of Bohemians does not even have enough money to pay the players, let alone to pay down some of the club’s outstanding debts. The new owner, Mr. Bubník, made a number of promises, none of which have been fulfilled.
The whole situation culminated on Friday 2 p.m., at which time Mr. Bubník was supposed to deliver players the money in cash. He showed up at the stadium where a number of TV and press reporters had already awaited his arrival. He headed straight to the players lounge where he presented another lame excuse why he could not pay. He held a brief press conference afterwards, blaming media pressure for his mysterious financial backer to back away from a promised plan of action.
The whole farce was broadcast live over Internet thanks to our webmasters. Over 14000 different users logged in.
The players reacted as expected - they went on strike, forfeiting the third game of Tipsport Cup on Saturday against Mladá Boleslav. The team is currently leading its group with two hard-earned victories against the first division clubs and still has a chance to make it to the finals.
The situation of Bohemians football club is now extremely critical and its very survival is at stake. Not only was valuable time wasted but the whole “ownership” structure is in shambles. Mr. Bubník lost all his credibility. Previous owners, Mr. Křížek and Mr. Vejsada cannot carry the club financially and they are unable (or unwilling) to find another, credible partner.
Fans are getting quite angry. They started organizing groups in order to either provide support for the club or to express their frustration over the whole mess. Many suspect that the club’s destruction is in the best interest of people who want to develop the valuable real estate on which the stadium (Ďolíček) is located.
One has to wonder what is happening to European football in general. European ideals of decency do not apply in this entertainment field where brutal, raw capitalist methods thrive. John D. Rockefeller would feel at home in this environment where smaller clubs are not protected against monopolistic methods of a few big clubs. One does not have to be a Marxist to see that under the existing system, the rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer. The result is that we all are getting poorer when our football heritage is being reduced to a few “survivors” while less fortunate clubs, that throughout their rich history kept on providing entertainment to hundreds of thousands of fans, are destined to depart.
