Latest news with #RobbieKeane
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sports quiz of the week: French Open, Champions League and McTominay
Paris Saint-Germain face Inter in the Champions League final on Saturday night. When was the last time a French team met an Italian team in the final? The 2010s The 1990s The 1970s It has never happened before Isaac del Toro is leading the Giro d'Italia. If he wins the race, he will become the first cyclist from which country to win a Grand Tour? Mexico Colombia Argentina Ecuador Robbie Keane, who is now managing Ferencvaros in Hungary, picked up an unusual injury this week. What happened? He dropped an iron on his big toe and had to go to hospital, missing their last game of the season Ferencvaros won the title and he banged his head off the trophy while lifting it up for fans He fell off his son's mini scooter and broke his ankle He injured his back while sneezing at a press conference Stina Blackstenius scored the winner as Arsenal beat Barcelona in the Women's Champions League final in Lisbon. For which country has she won more than 100 caps? Germany Sweden USA Norway Which of these football teams is the odd one out? Sunderland Charlton AFC Wimbledon Leyton Orient Coco Gauff won her first-round match at the French Open – after what hiccup? Her match was delayed by an hour after she got stuck in traffic in Paris She forgot to pack her rackets for the match She conceded two point penalties in her first game as her laces kept coming undone She played the last few games with one contact lens after the other one fell out Emma Raducanu's coach Mark Petchey came to her defence after she lost to Iga Swiatek at the French Open. He said that tennis has changed a lot since Raducanu won the US Open, adding that … '… the balls are four times heavier than in 2021' '… the courts are now much bigger' '… players are hitting twice as hard' '… matches are three times longer' Scott McTominay had an audience with the Pope this week after winning the Serie A title and being voted the best player in the league this season. Which other Scottish player has starred alongside him in the Napoli midfield? Lewis Ferguson Liam Henderson Billy Gilmour Josh Doig Pepe Reina, the 42-year-old former Liverpool and Barcelona goalkeeper, played the final game of his career last weekend for Como against Juventus in Serie A. What happened? He scored a 90th-minute winner to help Como avoid relegation He pulled a hamstring in the first minute and had to be subbed off He was sent off He was substituted in the 26th minute as he wears the No 26 shirt for Como The British canoeist Kurts Adams Rozentals has been banned from competing and may miss out on the next Olympic Games. According to Rozentals, why has he been excluded by the sport's authorities? He shared his political opinion on social media He started an OnlyFans account He has been writing a 'tell all' column in Canoeing Monthly He posed topless for Men's Health magazine In cricket, which two neighbouring counties are top of Division One and Division Two in the County Championship? Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Surrey and Middlesex Yorkshire and Durham Essex and Kent Chelsea's win against Real Betis means they are the only club to have won the European Cup/Champions League, Uefa Cup/Europa League, Cup Winners' Cup and Conference League. Which team have been beaten finalists in all four competitions? Atlético Madrid Sampdoria Borussia Dortmund Fiorentina Chelsea are the first English team to beat a Spanish team in a men's European final since … 2008 2001 1994 1985 Moses Itauma – who has won his first 12 professional fights – has given up his ambition of becoming the youngest heavyweight world champion in boxing history. Who holds that record, having won a world title at the age of 20? Muhammad Ali Joe Frazier Anthony Joshua Mike Tyson Lamine Yamal has signed a new contract with a €1bn buyout clause. Why did the 17-year-old decide to delay the photoshoot for the new deal? He is writing a song with Eminem that he wants to perform at the photoshoot He is waiting to get his braces out next week He is waiting for a day when his grandmother can make it He is a Pisces and said the 'stars and fish were not aligned in the night sky' Solutions 1:B - In 1993, when Marseille beat Milan. They remain the only French club to have won the competition., 2:A - When it comes to wins in the three Grand Tours, Italian riders lead the way with 85. France (51), Spain (48), Belgium (33) and Great Britain (11) make up the top five. , 3:B - He needed three stitches on his forehead. Keane is on something of a hot streak, having also won the Israeli league last year with Maccabi Tel Aviv., 4:B - Blackstenius was due a good result in a final – she has lost two Olympic finals with Sweden., 5:D - The other three won playoff finals this season., 6:B - A ball boy fetched them from the dressing rooms. 'It probably relaxed me going into the match because it was such a funny thing,' she said. 'I'm just happy to get through. I'll remember my rackets next time.' , 7:A - 'It's tough on Emma as I still feel everyone is living in 2021,' said Petchey. 'The games have changed massively. The balls are four times heavier than back in 2021 and Emma isn't the biggest hitter. If you can't put the ball through the court on a windy, heavy clay court day against someone like Iga, you're going to get into all sorts of trouble.' , 8:C - Gilmour and McTominay joined Napoli on the same day., 9:C - Reina was given a standing ovation as he left the pitch., 10:B - Rozentals says he started posting 'spicy content' to fund his 'ultimate dream of going to the Olympics'. He has made more than £100,000 this year on the site – a lot more than the £16,000 funding available from Paddle UK – but his dream may be drifting down the drain. , 11:A - The East Midlands is leading the way. , 12:D - Fiorentina lost the European Cup final in 1957, the Cup Winners' Cup final in 1962, the Uefa Cup final in 1990 and the Conference League final in 2023 and 2024. , 13:B - Spanish teams were on a run of 27 straight wins against teams from other countries – dating back to Liverpool beating Alavés 5-4 in the Uefa Cup final in 2001. , 14:D - Tyson was 20 years and four months old when he became world champion in 1986; Itauma passed that age on Saturday., 15:C - The 17-year-old says his grandmother, Fatima, keeps his feet on the ground. When he offered to buy her a house she refused, saying she preferred to stay in Rocafonda, the working-class neighbourhood in Mataró, a coastal town north of Barcelona. True to his origins, Lamine Yamal celebrates his goals with his hands forming the numbers 304, the Rocafonda postal code. By the way, he is a big fan of Eminem. Scores
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
‘He didn't say f**k off': Heimir Hallgrímsson hopeful Liam Delap may represent Ireland
Heimir Hallgrímsson recently met Liam Delap to gauge whether the England under-21 striker would be interested in declaring for the Republic of Ireland . Delap's father Rory, who won 11 caps for Ireland between 1998 and 2004, and Hallgrímsson's assistant coach John O'Shea were also present. After scoring 12 goals in the Premier League for relegated Ipswich Town, Delap was named in England under-21's squad by manager Lee Carsley, along with the Dublin-born Dennis Cirkin, for the upcoming European Championships in Slovakia. 'We have sat with him,' said Hallgrímsson. 'Just told him we would love to have him in our camp. But his focus is the [England] under-21s at the moment. What will happen after that we will have to wait and see.' READ MORE Any interest at all? 'Well, he didn't say f**k off,' the Icelander replied. Rory Delap just won the Hungarian league title at Ferencváros as Robbie Keane 's assistant coach. The younger Delap has made 12 appearances for the England under-21s, scoring three goals, so if he lines out in the defending champions opening group match against the Czech Republic on June 12th, the FAI will need to apply to Fifa for a change in nationality. In February, the association appointed Aidan Price, the former Shamrock Rovers academy director, as their head of talent identification and recruitment, with the aim of convincing players such as Delap and Cirkin to declare for Ireland. The Athletic is reporting that Delap intends to join Chelsea this summer, if Ipswich's £30 million (€26.4 million) release clause is met, despite interest from Manchester United, Newcastle United, Everton, Nottingham Forest, AC Milan and Juventus. Liam Delap is being chased by lots of clubs who want to lure him away from Ipswich Town. Photograph:Cirkin would be a more complicated process for the FAI as he was born in Ireland to Latvian parents before moving to England at three years old. 'We want the best players available, always playing for us,' Hallgrímsson continued. 'It is up to him. These questions you need to ask the player himself, not me. We always want the best players.' In the meantime, the Ireland manager is focused on working with his available strikers, Evan Ferguson, Troy Parrott and Adam Idah, before friendlies against Senegal at the Aviva Stadium on June 6th and away to Luxembourg on June 10th. Ferguson impressed Hallgrímsson in recent international camps, when he scored against Bulgaria and Finland, despite the 20-year-old's struggles to command game time in the Premier League with Brighton and on loan to West Ham United. 'I can only judge from the time he's with us,' said Hallgrímsson. 'He's been good for us, he's been efficient for us. At training, he looks good. So, whatever it is, it's something that we cannot control and now we haven't seen him for a long time, so we just want to see him, speak to him and see what's happening and just evaluate where he is.' Séamus Coleman's future in the game as a player remains in doubt after the 36-year-old was forced to pull out of next month's games with an injury he sustained in Everton's last ever match at Goodison Park on May 18th. Everton manager David Moyes confirmed recently that Coleman will remain at the club next season, but it is unclear whether this will be in a playing or coaching capacity. Whatever role Séamus Coleman will have at Everton next season will involve leadership. Photograph: Alex Dodd/CameraSport via Getty Images On whether Coleman will feature in the World Cup qualification campaign, beginning against Hungary and Armenia in September, Hallgrímsson said: 'That's for Séamus to decide, not me.' 'He is a leader in this squad and his experience is one thing, but his quality as a player is another thing as well. He's been playing at the highest level for such a long time, so it's a shame for me and, of course, the national team, not to have him around, but hopefully there will come another time for him, hopefully it will be just the off-season and he'll come back fit and flying. 'I know he's [staying] at Everton in whatever role, maybe a little bit more leadership role, but it's for him to answer if he's going to continue playing or not. It's his decision, but I'm hoping – and I know the Evertonians are hoping – he will continue playing." Hallgrímsson decided not to replace Coleman in a 23-man panel as Matt Doherty, Jake O'Brien, Festy Ebosele and Dara O'Shea can play right back. However, concerns around Sammie Szmodics return from an ankle injury prompted the Irish management to call up Andrew Moran in place of the 29-year-old attacker. Hallgrímsson believes that Chiedozie Ogbene will recover from the Achilles tendon surgery he required in November, to feature against Hungary on September 6th. 'According to him he is going to be the fittest player in preseason, so definitely in September he will be ready for us.' Sadio Mané, the former Liverpool winger, will not travel with the Senegal squad to Dublin next week due to a personal issue. Ireland squad – Goalkeepers: Caoimhín Kelleher (Liverpool), Max O'Leary (Bristol City), Josh Keeley (Leyton Orient, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur). Defenders: Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Dara O'Shea (Ipswich Town), Jake O'Brien (Everton), Andrew Omobamidele (Strasbourg, on loan from Nottingham Forest), Liam Scales (Celtic), Robbie Brady (Preston North End), Festy Ebosele (Istanbul Basaksehir), Ryan Manning (Southampton). Midfielders: Jason Knight (Bristol City), Killian Phillips (St Mirren, on loan from Crystal Palace), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town), John Joe Patrick Finn (Stade de Reims), Andrew Moran (Stoke City, on loan from Brighton). Forwards: Troy Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Evan Ferguson (West Ham United, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion), Adam Idah (Celtic), Kasey McAteer (Leicester City).
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros hold off Orban-backed Puskas Akademia
This is why I love football!' Robbie Keane yells through the smoky haze, addressing the raucous Ferencvaros faithful gathered in Budapest to celebrate the club's 36th league title. 'For moments like this. For you guys!' Ferencvaros have looked far from convincing since his appointment in January, but they got the job done. Needing only a point on the final day, they beat Gyor 2–1 to deliver on Keane's primary objective: securing a seventh consecutive league title for Hungary's footballing powerhouse. Mission accomplished. But this was the closest Ferencvaros had been pushed in their historic run. Never before had it gone to the wire. For the first time in seven years, Fradi actually had competition. And that came in the form of the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban's club, Puskas Akademia. Puskas Akademia, rebranded from Felcsut FC in 2007 on Ferenc Puskas's 80th birthday, is Orban's passion project. Located in the village of Felcsut, 45km west of Budapest, where the prime minister spent much of his childhood, the club have risen from obscurity since his return to power in 2010. In 2013 they reached the Hungarian top flight for the first time, and this year nearly secured their first European qualification, falling on penalties to the eventual semi-finalists Fiorentina in the final round of Europa Conference League qualifying. Their stadium is the Pancho Arena, an architectural masterpiece built within eyeshot of Orban's childhood home in 2014. Its beauty is undeniable. Its symbolism, inescapable. It's a monument to Orban's vision, with football as both metaphor and mechanism. 'I think Puskas Akademia presents perhaps one of the most transparent cases of political instrumentalisation in European football,' says Gyozo Molnar, professor of sociology of sport and exercise at the University of Worcester. 'The club has received disproportionate state investment which reveals direct connections between political power and club resources, despite limited attendance or sporting tradition in the area.' Ferencvaros' Tunisian midfielder Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane celebrates with head coach Robbie Keane. Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images Puskas Akademia have received state funding on a staggering scale. According to HVG, between 2010 and 2024, the club and its managing foundation handled a combined budget of around €370m. The money is routed through a web of state subsidies, sponsorships and redirected taxes. Their wage bill is second only to Ferencvaros. But unlike their Budapest rivals – whose academy players featured only 30 times in the league this season – Puskas Akademia's youth players made 118 appearances. At academy level, they are beginning to dominate Hungary's player development landscape, outpacing the country's most historically respected training centres. At senior level, a league title victory feels like more of a when than an if. Going into this season's final matchday, Puskas Akademia, who had led the title race until April, needed Ferencvaros to lose to stand a chance. It was a long shot. Despite Ferencvaros's rocky season, at this stage of the calendar Fradi know how to win – they had won seven of their previous eight, the only other being a draw with Puskas in Felcsut. And win they did, with goals either side of half-time from Gabor Szalai and Lenny Joseph putting Keane's men at ease. Yet Puskas are a club designed not merely to win titles, but to serve as a physical and ideological extension of Orbanism. They are not a football club in the traditional sense. They have no culture, no history, no fanbase. Their average attendance this season was 1,500, boosted massively by away support. But what they do have is power. And in Hungary, power is often enough. 'The club's rapid rise through the divisions to the top tier and European competition reflects Orban's consolidation of power,' Molnar says. 'Functioning as a physical monument to his leadership while normalising the diversion of public resources toward personal political projects.' But Puskas aren't the only club in the Hungarian league with power. Ferencvaros too hold much of their own and, intriguingly, receive support from Orban's party, Fidesz, through direct government subsidies such as the national development ministry, the corporation tax rebate scheme and municipal support. And they too have powerful people at the top. In 2011, Gabor Kubatov, vice-president of Fidesz, became president of Ferencvaros. At the time the club were in disarray: two years earlier they had been in Hungary's second tier having been relegated for financial irregularities. But this was a club with huge upside, huge potential – the country's most successful and most supported club. So Kubatov walked in with an agenda: instrumentalise the football club, mobilise the fanbase, harness its potential. Under his leadership Ferencvaros were to become more than a football team – they were to be a political, societal and national vehicle. 'Gabor Kubatov has full control and Fradi's success clearly serves a state agenda,' Adam Feko, a journalist at Magyar Narancs, says. 'At one point, the fanbase protested against him, but now no one dares speak ill. Kubatov deliberately sends the message: if Fidesz weren't in power, Fradi would be in trouble.' That is in large part due to the state funding they receive. In 2021, Atlatszo reported that Fradi received at least 80% of their revenues between 2011 and 2019 from state-linked sources. With funding, the state's vision was to have a Hungarian club competing on the international stage just like the national team. And it worked. Ferencvaros have now been the dominant force in Hungarian football for the best part of a decade and have seen unprecedented success in Europe, qualifying for the group stage of a European competition for the past six years. This season they finished above Porto, Fenerbahce, Nice and Hoffenheim in the Europa League's league phase. The club have been transformed, the fervour reintroduced. So job done, perhaps? Agenda complete? Time for Puskas Akademia to roll in? Maybe, but this isn't a replacement on the cards. This is a one-two punch. Because both clubs serve very different purposes. If Ferencvaros are the people's club made powerful by politics, Puskas Akademia are politics made physical. One is a reward for the masses. The other, a construction. 'Both Ferencvaros and Puskas Akademia demonstrate distinctive mechanisms through which football serves political purposes,' Molnar says. 'Puskas Akademia as a nouveau-riche creation directly reflecting and related to individual political power. Ferencvaros as the capture and repurposing of authentic, traditional and nationalistic sporting heritage for political legitimacy. 'Together, they illustrate how contemporary authoritarian-leaning governance can effectively utilise both new and traditional sporting institutions to naturalise and further solidify political control while presenting it as cultural and infrastructural revitalisation.' In this context, Keane's words from Saturday night start to ring hollow, because what does success mean in this climate? What does it mean for the league? Though there is personal glory involved, the real story of Hungarian football under Orban lies beyond the silverware. This isn't just about two state clubs manufactured to vie for success because what's unfolding isn't just about who wins – it's about what victory represents. Ferencvaros's domestic dominance and European respectability prove what the state can build with history and support on its side. Puskas Akademia, meanwhile, shows what can be engineered from nothing. Between the two, a pattern emerges: in Orban's Hungary, football clubs are no longer just teams – they are vehicles. For tradition, for messaging, for legacy. And while Ferencvaros continue to lift the trophies, it is Puskas that perhaps best illustrate the architecture of the regime's long-term ambitions. Because in Hungary today, success need not be sustainable, nor popular, nor even sporting. It need only serve a purpose. In this landscape, function is often secondary to symbolism. Stadiums, school curriculums, news channels, football clubs – each forms part of a broader architecture of control, built to anchor loyalty and cultivate a shared national narrative from the top down. The question, then, is not just whether Ferencvaros will continue to dominate or whether Puskas Akademia will eventually oust them. It's whether Hungarian football can ever again be separated from the system that now so thoroughly envelops it. Is this why we love football? Guardian
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Robbie Keane's Ferencváros hold off Orban-backed Puskas Akademia
'This is why I love football!' Robbie Keane yells through the smoky haze, addressing the raucous Ferencváros faithful gathered in Budapest to celebrate the club's 36th league title. 'For moments like this. For you guys!' Ferencváros have looked far from convincing since his appointment in January, but they got the job done. Needing only a point on the final day, they beat Gyor 2–1 to deliver on Keane's primary objective: securing a seventh consecutive league title for Hungary's footballing powerhouse. Mission accomplished. But this was the closest Ferencváros had been pushed in their historic run. Never before had it gone to the wire. For the first time in seven years, Ferencváros, also known as Fradi, actually had competition. And that came in the form of the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban's club, Puskas Akademia. Puskas Akademia, rebranded from Felcsut FC in 2007 on Ferenc Puskas's 80th birthday, is Orban's passion project. Located in the village of Felcsut, 45km west of Budapest, where the prime minister spent much of his childhood, the club have risen from obscurity since his return to power in 2010. In 2013 they reached the Hungarian top flight for the first time, and this year nearly secured their first European qualification, falling on penalties to the eventual semi-finalists Fiorentina in the final round of Europa Conference League qualifying. READ MORE Their stadium is the Pancho Arena, an architectural masterpiece built within eyeshot of Orban's childhood home in 2014. Its beauty is undeniable. Its symbolism, inescapable. It's a monument to Orban's vision, with football as both metaphor and mechanism. 'I think Puskas Akademia presents perhaps one of the most transparent cases of political instrumentalisation in European football,' says Gyozo Molnar, professor of sociology of sport and exercise at the University of Worcester. 'The club has received disproportionate state investment which reveals direct connections between political power and club resources, despite limited attendance or sporting tradition in the area.' Puskas Akademia have received state funding on a staggering scale. According to HVG, between 2010 and 2024, the club and its managing foundation handled a combined budget of around €370m. The money is routed through a web of state subsidies, sponsorships and redirected taxes. Puskas Akademia's stadium is the Pancho Arena, an architectural masterpiece built within eyeshot of Orban's childhood home. Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images Their wage bill is second only to Ferencváros. But unlike their Budapest rivals – whose academy players featured only 30 times in the league this season – Puskas Akademia's youth players made 118 appearances. At academy level, they are beginning to dominate Hungary's player development landscape, outpacing the country's most historically respected training centres. At senior level, a league title victory feels like more of a when than an if. Going into this season's final matchday, Puskas Akademia, who had led the title race until April, needed Ferencváros to lose to stand a chance. It was a long shot. Despite Ferencváros's rocky season, at this stage of the calendar Fradi know how to win – they had won seven of their previous eight, the only other being a draw with Puskas in Felcsut. And win they did, with goals either side of half-time from Gabor Szalai and Lenny Joseph putting Keane's men at ease. Yet Puskas are a club designed not merely to win titles, but to serve as a physical and ideological extension of Orbanism. They are not a football club in the traditional sense. They have no culture, no history, no fanbase. Their average attendance this season was 1,500, boosted massively by away support. But what they do have is power. And in Hungary, power is often enough. 'The club's rapid rise through the divisions to the top tier and European competition reflects Orban's consolidation of power,' Molnar says. 'Functioning as a physical monument to his leadership while normalising the diversion of public resources toward personal political projects.' But Puskas aren't the only club in the Hungarian league with power. Ferencváros too hold much of their own and, intriguingly, receive support from Orban's party, Fidesz, through direct government subsidies such as the national development ministry, the corporation tax rebate scheme and municipal support. Puskas Akademia, rebranded from Felcsut FC in 2007 on Ferenc Puskas's 80th birthday, is Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban's passion project. Photograph: Robert Szaniszlo/NurPhoto via Getty Images And they too have powerful people at the top. In 2011, Gabor Kubatov, vice-president of Fidesz, became president of Ferencváros. At the time the club were in disarray: two years earlier they had been in Hungary's second tier having been relegated for financial irregularities. But this was a club with huge upside, huge potential – the country's most successful and most supported club. So Kubatov walked in with an agenda: instrumentalise the football club, mobilise the fanbase, harness its potential. Under his leadership Ferencváros were to become more than a football team – they were to be a political, societal and national vehicle. 'Gabor Kubatov has full control and Fradi's success clearly serves a state agenda,' Adam Feko, a journalist at Magyar Narancs, says. 'At one point, the fanbase protested against him, but now no one dares speak ill. Kubatov deliberately sends the message: if Fidesz weren't in power, Fradi would be in trouble.' That is in large part due to the state funding they receive. In 2021, Atlatszo reported that Fradi received at least 80% of their revenues between 2011 and 2019 from state-linked sources. With funding, the state's vision was to have a Hungarian club competing on the international stage just like the national team. And it worked. Ferencváros have now been the dominant force in Hungarian football for the best part of a decade and have seen unprecedented success in Europe, qualifying for the group stage of a European competition for the past six years. This season they finished above Porto, Fenerbahce, Nice and Hoffenheim in the Europa League's league phase. The club have been transformed, the fervour reintroduced. Robbie Keane, head coach of Ferencváros, after the Europa League game against Viktoria Plzen in February. Photograph: Szilvia Micheller/So job done, perhaps? Agenda complete? Time for Puskas Akademia to roll in? Maybe, but this isn't a replacement on the cards. This is a one-two punch. Because both clubs serve very different purposes. If Ferencváros are the people's club made powerful by politics, Puskas Akademia are politics made physical. One is a reward for the masses. The other, a construction. 'Both Ferencváros and Puskas Akademia demonstrate distinctive mechanisms through which football serves political purposes,' Molnar says. 'Puskas Akademia as a nouveau-riche creation directly reflecting and related to individual political power. Ferencváros as the capture and repurposing of authentic, traditional and nationalistic sporting heritage for political legitimacy. 'Together, they illustrate how contemporary authoritarian-leaning governance can effectively utilise both new and traditional sporting institutions to naturalise and further solidify political control while presenting it as cultural and infrastructural revitalisation.' In this context, Keane's words from Saturday night start to ring hollow, because what does success mean in this climate? What does it mean for the league? Though there is personal glory involved, the real story of Hungarian football under Orban lies beyond the silverware. This isn't just about two state clubs manufactured to vie for success because what's unfolding isn't just about who wins – it's about what victory represents. Robbie Keane guided Ferencváros to their seventh straight Hungarian title. Photograph: David Balogh - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images Ferencváros's domestic dominance and European respectability prove what the state can build with history and support on its side. Puskas Akademia, meanwhile, shows what can be engineered from nothing. Between the two, a pattern emerges: in Orban's Hungary, football clubs are no longer just teams – they are vehicles. For tradition, for messaging, for legacy. And while Ferencváros continue to lift the trophies, it is Puskas that perhaps best illustrate the architecture of the regime's long-term ambitions. Because in Hungary today, success need not be sustainable, nor popular, nor even sporting. It need only serve a purpose. In this landscape, function is often secondary to symbolism. Stadiums, school curriculums, news channels, football clubs – each forms part of a broader architecture of control, built to anchor loyalty and cultivate a shared national narrative from the top down. The question, then, is not just whether Ferencváros will continue to dominate or whether Puskas Akademia will eventually oust them. It's whether Hungarian football can ever again be separated from the system that now so thoroughly envelops it. Is this why we love football? — Guardian
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros hold off Orban-backed Puskas Akademia
'This is why I love football!' Robbie Keane yells through the smoky haze, addressing the raucous Ferencvaros faithful gathered in Budapest to celebrate the club's 36th league title. 'For moments like this. For you guys!' Ferencvaros have looked far from convincing since his appointment in January, but they got the job done. Needing only a point on the final day, they beat Gyor 2–1 to deliver on Keane's primary objective: securing a seventh consecutive league title for Hungary's footballing powerhouse. Mission accomplished. But this was the closest Ferencvaros had been pushed in their historic run. Never before had it gone to the wire. For the first time in seven years, Fradi actually had competition. And that came in the form of the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban's club, Puskas Akademia. Puskas Akademia, rebranded from Felcsut FC in 2007 on Ferenc Puskas's 80th birthday, is Orban's passion project. Located in the village of Felcsut, 45km west of Budapest, where the prime minister spent much of his childhood, the club have risen from obscurity since his return to power in 2010. In 2013 they reached the Hungarian top flight for the first time, and this year nearly secured their first European qualification, falling on penalties to the eventual semi-finalists Fiorentina in the final round of Europa Conference League qualifying. Their stadium is the Pancho Arena, an architectural masterpiece built within eyeshot of Orban's childhood home in 2014. Its beauty is undeniable. Its symbolism, inescapable. It's a monument to Orban's vision, with football as both metaphor and mechanism. 'I think Puskas Akademia presents perhaps one of the most transparent cases of political instrumentalisation in European football,' says Gyozo Molnar, professor of sociology of sport and exercise at the University of Worcester. 'The club has received disproportionate state investment which reveals direct connections between political power and club resources, despite limited attendance or sporting tradition in the area.' Puskas Akademia have received state funding on a staggering scale. According to HVG, between 2010 and 2024, the club and its managing foundation handled a combined budget of around €370m. The money is routed through a web of state subsidies, sponsorships and redirected taxes. Their wage bill is second only to Ferencvaros. But unlike their Budapest rivals – whose academy players featured only 30 times in the league this season – Puskas Akademia's youth players made 118 appearances. At academy level, they are beginning to dominate Hungary's player development landscape, outpacing the country's most historically respected training centres. At senior level, a league title victory feels like more of a when than an if. Going into this season's final matchday, Puskas Akademia, who had led the title race until April, needed Ferencvaros to lose to stand a chance. It was a long shot. Despite Ferencvaros's rocky season, at this stage of the calendar Fradi know how to win – they had won seven of their previous eight, the only other being a draw with Puskas in Felcsut. And win they did, with goals either side of half-time from Gabor Szalai and Lenny Joseph putting Keane's men at ease. Yet Puskas are a club designed not merely to win titles, but to serve as a physical and ideological extension of Orbanism. They are not a football club in the traditional sense. They have no culture, no history, no fanbase. Their average attendance this season was 1,500, boosted massively by away support. But what they do have is power. And in Hungary, power is often enough. 'The club's rapid rise through the divisions to the top tier and European competition reflects Orban's consolidation of power,' Molnar says. 'Functioning as a physical monument to his leadership while normalising the diversion of public resources toward personal political projects.' But Puskas aren't the only club in the Hungarian league with power. Ferencvaros too hold much of their own and, intriguingly, receive support from Orban's party, Fidesz, through direct government subsidies such as the national development ministry, the corporation tax rebate scheme and municipal support. And they too have powerful people at the top. In 2011, Gabor Kubatov, vice-president of Fidesz, became president of Ferencvaros. At the time the club were in disarray: two years earlier they had been in Hungary's second tier having been relegated for financial irregularities. But this was a club with huge upside, huge potential – the country's most successful and most supported club. So Kubatov walked in with an agenda: instrumentalise the football club, mobilise the fanbase, harness its potential. Under his leadership Ferencvaros were to become more than a football team – they were to be a political, societal and national vehicle. 'Gabor Kubatov has full control and Fradi's success clearly serves a state agenda,' Adam Feko, a journalist at Magyar Narancs, says. 'At one point, the fanbase protested against him, but now no one dares speak ill. Kubatov deliberately sends the message: if Fidesz weren't in power, Fradi would be in trouble.' That is in large part due to the state funding they receive. In 2021, Atlatszo reported that Fradi received at least 80% of their revenues between 2011 and 2019 from state-linked sources. With funding, the state's vision was to have a Hungarian club competing on the international stage just like the national team. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion And it worked. Ferencvaros have now been the dominant force in Hungarian football for the best part of a decade and have seen unprecedented success in Europe, qualifying for the group stage of a European competition for the past six years. This season they finished above Porto, Fenerbahce, Nice and Hoffenheim in the Europa League's league phase. The club have been transformed, the fervour reintroduced. So job done, perhaps? Agenda complete? Time for Puskas Akademia to roll in? Maybe, but this isn't a replacement on the cards. This is a one-two punch. Because both clubs serve very different purposes. If Ferencvaros are the people's club made powerful by politics, Puskas Akademia are politics made physical. One is a reward for the masses. The other, a construction. 'Both Ferencvaros and Puskas Akademia demonstrate distinctive mechanisms through which football serves political purposes,' Molnar says. 'Puskas Akademia as a nouveau-riche creation directly reflecting and related to individual political power. Ferencvaros as the capture and repurposing of authentic, traditional and nationalistic sporting heritage for political legitimacy. 'Together, they illustrate how contemporary authoritarian-leaning governance can effectively utilise both new and traditional sporting institutions to naturalise and further solidify political control while presenting it as cultural and infrastructural revitalisation.' In this context, Keane's words from Saturday night start to ring hollow, because what does success mean in this climate? What does it mean for the league? Though there is personal glory involved, the real story of Hungarian football under Orban lies beyond the silverware. This isn't just about two state clubs manufactured to vie for success because what's unfolding isn't just about who wins – it's about what victory represents. Ferencvaros's domestic dominance and European respectability prove what the state can build with history and support on its side. Puskas Akademia, meanwhile, shows what can be engineered from nothing. Between the two, a pattern emerges: in Orban's Hungary, football clubs are no longer just teams – they are vehicles. For tradition, for messaging, for legacy. And while Ferencvaros continue to lift the trophies, it is Puskas that perhaps best illustrate the architecture of the regime's long-term ambitions. Because in Hungary today, success need not be sustainable, nor popular, nor even sporting. It need only serve a purpose. In this landscape, function is often secondary to symbolism. Stadiums, school curriculums, news channels, football clubs – each forms part of a broader architecture of control, built to anchor loyalty and cultivate a shared national narrative from the top down. The question, then, is not just whether Ferencvaros will continue to dominate or whether Puskas Akademia will eventually oust them. It's whether Hungarian football can ever again be separated from the system that now so thoroughly envelops it. Is this why we love football?
