Sandor Csanyi, President of the Hungarian Federation. Interview
Sándor Csányi is a Hungarian billionaire businessman and banker. He has been chairman of the Hungarian football Federation (MLSZ) since July 2010
Sándor Csányi is a Hungarian billionaire businessman and banker. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of OTP Bank group , one of the largest financial groups in the CEE Region and the largest bank of Hungary. He is a shareholder and board member of the Hungarian-based multinational oil and gas company,MOL Group .
He owns Bonafarm, the holding company of a Hungarian agricultural and food manufacture group. With an estimated wealth of 393,4 billion forint ($1,33 billion) as of 2021, he is according to Forbes , the 2nd wealthiest person in Hungary, and the country's first billionaire.
He has been chairman of the Hungarian football Federation (MLSZ) since July 2010. In 2015, he was elected to the UEFA Executive Committee, and in March 2017 he was elected as a member of the FIFA Council , before being named vice president of FIFA in February 2018.Was was also appointed as a UEFA vice-president in February 2019. He is the Chairman of the UEFA National Team Competition Committee and member of the UEFA Finance Committee. He is a member of UEFA Professional Football Strategy Council.
He is the owner of Pick Szeged Handball Club. He is the Honorary Vice President of the International Judo Federation.
Sándor Csányi was born on the 20 March 1953 in a lower middle-class agricultural family in Jaszarokszallas. His father, József Csányi was the field guard of the cooperative of Jaszarokszallas. His mother, Amália Ballagó was a line driver also in the town's cooperative. He has two brothers. His parents were Beekeepers and produced sugar beets. He is of Jassic descent.
When he was 14 years old, he moved from rural Hungary to Budapest. He graduated from Budapest Business School in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and in 1980 from the Budapest University of Economics with a degree in economics and thereafter received his doctorate in 1983. He is married to Erika Csányi, they live in Budapest, and have five children.
Sandor Czanyi, the businessman, president of the Hungarian football federation, spoke exclusively to Manos Staramopoulos about the match against Greece to be held in Budapest, the new powerful team of his country, created by Rossi, the Qatar World Cup. The new and many stadiums of Hungary and other interesting topics.
1. In November you will host the Greek national team in "Puskás". Tell us about this game and how it came about?
R/: Our dream was of course to qualify for the World Cup, and I hope that the team will be ready for such achievement but we finally didn’t make it through Qatar and Marco Rossi finds these matches in November ideal for building the team and include some more young players. We respect Greek football and understand that the opposition side is in a similar process ahead of the next European Qualifiers.
2. In the last two years, we have seen a significant rise in Hungarian football, what is the reason for this?
R/: I am very proud that we not only qualified for the last two EURO’s but we played remarkable games both in 2016 and 2020 (2021). I also want to mention that the team qualified for the A league of the Nations League competition, and we almost won the group ahead of England, Germany and Italy and finally finished second. The basis of these results come from the investment that we made - supported by the government - since 2010 and I believe that Marco Rossi head coach is also a key to these positive results.
3. Your country has built many modern stadiums in recent years. How did you manage?
R/: This was part of our strategic development program. You must be aware that more than 1100 pitches were created, and 3000 pitches of different size were reconstructed during the last 12 years. These pitches all around the country are serving mostly the amateur and grassroots, youth football but it is also true that - apart from the great Puskás Aréna - basically all professional club’s stadiums had been rebuilt. Companies and the Hungarian government provided the financial basis for the process.
4. How did the Hungarian football federation deal with the pandemic?
R/: We were one of the firsts to restart, even before the UEFA competitions and implemented strict and clear measures. Thanks to these we organized the first UEFA club final with supporters: the Super Cup 2020 in the Puskás Aréna. I am very proud that during the EURO 2020 last year we were the only venue to be able to use the full capacity of the stadium and we had no issues during the 4 matches.
5. In May you will host the Europa League final at Puskas Arena. How ready are you?
R/: I can say that we have an experience now organising such events and the Aréna is considered ideal also by the UEFA experts. It is something extra that luckily this season we have a Hungarian contender Ferencváros that has a potential chance to reach the final.
6. In the Nations League, the Hungarian national team has created surprises and you are leading the group. What is the secret of your success?
R/: As I already mentioned we have a very good coach and the players took this competition seriously while they showed team spirit. I also believe that our team is a very good mixture of experienced players such as Willi Orbán or Péter Gulácsi and young, uprising talents. We also have a big loss as the captain and scorer of 26 international goals Ádám Szalai retired in September, and we also lost Dzsudzsák Balázs who finishes his international career against Greece.
7. In the world cup in Qatar, unfortunately like Greece, you will not be present. What was wrong?
R/: We are able to produce some special results. Just to mention we played against England, Germany and we did not lose any matches - or I can add France against whom we played a 1-1 during the EURO - but maybe we need more stability and time to reach our best. I hope that our young talents such as Sallai, Szoboszlai, Attila Szalai or Kerkez will have a successful career and can add to the successes of the team for a long time.
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