The Hungarian football world unites
Competitive football in Hungary was halted in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, staying healthy is paramount, so clubs, players and fans are helping protect the public with a variety of charitable initiatives. Here, we've collected details of some of these recent donations and actions.
- Péter Gulácsi, the player who was chosen as Hungary's best player in 2019 and the best goalkeeper in the German Bundesliga, has donated five million forints to Szent László hospital in Budapest.
- The Hungarian national team, together with the Hungarian Football Federation, has added to the efforts of the Children's Catering Foundation, the National Ambulance Service and Szent László Hospital by donating 30 million HUF.
- Former national-team goalkeeper Ádám Bogdán has come together with Puskás Academy goalkeeper Lajos Hegedűs and Dr Dávid Zalai, a sports scientist at MTK, to collect donations, afterthe first round ofwhich they would like give 25 million HUF to Szent László hospital to help in the fight against COVID-19.
- The leaders and staff of Ferencvárosi TC including the footballers, coaches and technical staff members of the professional staff, offered 15 million HUF to the Foundation for Patients, Doctors and Employees of Szent László and Szent István hospital.
- A Diósgyőri VTK vs Ferencváros charity FIFA match was organised, from which the proceeds of the 'virtual' tickets were used to help those working in healthcare in Miskolc. DVTK supported the initiative by purchasing the right to take the first and second-half kick-offs of the virtual match and several former Ferencváros players such as Dániel Böde, Gábor Gyömbér and György Józsi also emphasised that they support the collection of donations.
- DVTK has set up a 20 million HUF fund to help members of the DVTK 'family' who may find themselves in a difficult situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the club's sports medicine, diagnostic and rehabilitation centre, DVTK Medical, will offer the capabilities of the relevant health authorities to fight the coronavirus, if necessary.
- András Gosztonyi, the Kisvárda player, has helped Felső-szabolcsi hospital by donating 500,000 HUF.
- The members of the official Kisvárda Master Good FC supporters' club, Várkerti Vitézek, have decided they would like to help the work of the Kisvárda branch of the National Ambulance Service by buying a professional ozone generator.
- Fans of Budapest Honvéd have organised a collection for Szent László hospital, in regard to which they will each donate the price of a match ticket. Regular supporters have also joined the "Feed the Doc" movement, which aims to provide healthcare professionals who are working in emergency situations with care and food. Supporters of the Kispest club have delivered pizzas and water to several healthcare institutions in the capital city at their own expense.
- Kevin Varga, Richárd Csősz and Attila Haris from Debrecen, Dániel Gazdag from Honvéd, Richárd Vernes from Vasas, Gergely Bobál from Zalaegerszeg and Dávid Banai from Újpest have joined the initiative started by Debrecen's Gábor Molnár which involves top- and second-tier footballers playing eSports FIFA 2020 football matches against each other on computer consoles and donating the amount received from the entry fees to the Hungarian Red Cross.
- The players and leadership of Paksi FC have donated more than half a million forints to the St László and St István's Hospital's Foundation for Patients, Doctors and Employees and for the Infectious Diseases and Intensive Care Unit for COVID-19 patients.
- Krisztián Géresi, the Fehérvár FC midfielder, has handed over a donation of 250,000 HUF to the healthcare workers of Székesfehérvár.
- ETO FC Győr has also come together and organised a collection for the benefit of Győr's hospital.
- The Youth Academy KISTEXT SE was among the first to step in and offer its new sports facility in the ninth district of Budapest to in support of protection against the virus.
- Zalaegerszeg player Krisztián Tamás and his partner Tamara Takács have donated one million forints to the Szent László Hospital in Budapest.
- The players, technical staff, management and employees of Haladás have raised more than 700,000 forints to support the Markusovszky Hospital in Szombathely.
- Hungary's most capped male international footballer Gábor Király has purchased diagnostic devices for the Markusovszky Hospital in Szombathely through the K1RALY foundation.
- The footballers of MOL Fehérvár FC, the members of the technical staff and the employees of the club have jointly offered 18 million HUF to the city of Székesfehérvár's emergency fund, which can be used by the Fejér County's Szent György University Teaching Hospital, for basic provisions or by those involved who need protection against the virus.
Twelve footballers from the NB III club Érd City Sports Association have promised that every week, two players will help the local Social Care Centre so that requested packages will be delivered to recipients via the team bus.
- The fans group Carpathian Brigade, in addition to asking fans to donate the price of their ticket for the now-postponed UEFA EURO 2020 play-off semi-final in Sofia, Bulgaria, to charity, has now been able to raise an even larger sum for the Ferenc Jahn Dél-pesti Hospital and Bajcsy Zsilinszky Hospital in the 10th district of Budapest.
- The afore-mentioned supporters group is also collecting further donations on a Facebook page called Szurkolók Magyarországért ('Fans for Hungary'). In Szombathely, for example, supporters have donated 400,000 HUF to the local hospital. Members of 'Körmend Youth' and MTE Ultras have volunteered to help the fight against COVID-19 and, together with local businesses and private parties, have handed over their donations to the Social Services and Information Centre in Körmend. The Nyíregyháza supporters group has helped emergency-service workers. Fans in Veszprém took pizzas to the staff of the Ferenc Csolnoky hospitaland many other supporters' communities have come together in some way: the Fradistas, those of Újpest, MTK, Kecskemét, Békéscsaba, Nagykanizsa and so on.
- There has also been heartwarming cooperation in Székekyföld; The Local Patriarchs of Csikszereda, the football and basketball fans of the Székely Legion of Sepsiszentgyörgy and the Transylvanian Fanatics group advertised an imaginary match between Sepsi OSK and FC Miercurea Ciuc of Miercurea Ciuc, the proceeds of which were given to the Csíkszereda County- and the Sepsiszentgyörgy Dr Kristóf Fogolyán County Emergency hospitals.
- The Blue Front Vásárhely '93 group in Hódmezővásárhely is also collecting donations. Members have donated more than 250,000 HUF to date, including cleaning products, mineral water, tea, food and saturation measures. Material donations were received by the ambulance service.
- The ZTE Football Friendship Circle is asking fans to buy 1,000 HUF admission tickets for the 2008 ZTE-Haladás match to be broadcast on the local Zalaegerszeg Television channel in order to support Zalaegerszeg's hospital, ambulance depot and retirement home.
- ViolaFidelity, an Újpest supporters group, has already organised a number of initiatives and helped the staff of Szent Imre hospital.
- Dorog fans have also organised a charity fundraising collection to support hospitals and their staff.