MOL could "do more for the success of Ujpest FC as an owner, which can only strengthen Hungarian football further," said Peter Ratatics, MOL's executive in charge of retail services, who will represent the company at the club.
The transaction is expected to close at the end of April. The parties did not disclose the sale price. A few months earlier, the Belgian owner asked for HUF14bn (€36mn) to sell the club, but the prospective buyer backed off after due diligence.
There have been rumours over the possible sale of the club for long and according to Telex.hu, Prime Minister
Hungary’s populist leader has used football to score political goals, spending billions of euros since 2010 on improving football infrastructure and building at least two dozen new stadiums. Funding for these projects came from the TAO tax scheme, which allowed companies to receive generous tax breaks if they donated money to a sports team.
Besides TAO, companies running football clubs are holding an advantage in public procurements to finance clubs that otherwise would not operate profitably on a market basis as revenue ticket sales are minimal except for Ferencvaros. Television rights constitute a major revenue source, but these are highly overvalued, and seen as another form of state subsidy by state media.
Ujpest will be the first sports club in
Next to the home of the prime minister lies the smallest football stadium in
Founded in
Ujpest is well-known for its passionate fanbase and for the bitter rivalry with Ferencvaros over the decades that was often marred by fan violence. The last derby between the two is most remembered by banners with scathing political messages against the government and Ferencvaros, which is often criticised for being the darling club of the regime.
According to the accounts of
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, source