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Mungry probes
SOccer crisis

ee By CHARLIE COUTTS
Player. 8@fian football circles are under fire from the
é Subject of a recent fierce debate is a
me between the two Budapest clubs Voros Lo-

ane i “ Sata

| Maly Canaaare high jumper Alice Whitty still hopes to go
fe ut was Olympic track and field team.
Metr, deferred for Dorothy Kozack of Calgary

2 Whitty, © relay, The women’s team may be ine

Elis, and undoubtedly .one of
the best and fairest in Europe.

He stands head and shoul-
ders above lots of others here
in Hungary who seem to blow
the whistle far too often in ac-
cord with the gestures, pro-
tests or claims of star players
or noisy supporters.

This incident touches on the
whole question of what has
sone wrong with Hungarian
football. ‘

That something is, wrong 1s
underlined by the fact that
the team that over the past
few years has been hailed as
perhaps the greatest of all
time has gone down to Tur-
key and Belgium in away
games and has lost its 13-year-
old home record to Czecho-
slovakia.

Centre of the storm at the
moment is Gustav Sebes, who
has had the handling of the
national side during its period
of glory.

Of course this is not a sud-
den’ storm in a teacup. but
something that has been brew-
ing since the World Cup in
1954.

In the last year it has be-
come very clear that despite
visible portliness and signs of

aging on the part of some

players, the national team
seemed irreplaceable by new
young blood.

That is & problem every
country has to face in time,
but one that is not easy to
understand in a _ country
where young footballers and
spottsmen in general get SO
many wonderful opportunities
and facilities.

+ ROR:

She won he

Added to this was the feel-

Hungary’s national team in an exhibition match in China last year.

ing that selection, training,
handling and disciplining had
become a purely one-man
show; that the spirit of the
team was not what it had
been and that such material
questions as trips abroad and
financial gain had become far
too important for the players.

*

As is often the case, a single
incident, or to be correct, a
double-barrelled incident,
provided the spark that sex
ploded the: whole business into
the Hungarian press. :

Not surprising either is the
fact that it was touched off
by Ferenc — Puskas, whose
popularity has’ been on_ the
wane.

Playing for his club, Hon-
ved, against Kiniszi, he got
into an-argument with the ref-
eree and, according to popular
opinion, as good as told him he
was a fool. Quite rightly the
referee gave him. his march-
ing orders.

The following week he ad-
ded fuel to the fire in another
club match.

This time team-mate Czibor
complained -at Puskas’ hog-
ging the ball and to ‘the
astonishment of the spectators

to Melbourne as a member of
r event in the recent Olympic
so that Canada could be represented
reased by one member to

include

Puskas took umbrage and left
the field for good.

A few days later the team

to play Czechoslovakia was~

announced and for the. first
time ever Puskas was dropped.

Imagine the furore when the
fans read the Nepsport, the
newspaper published by the
National Sports Committee,
that he was dropped for “loss
of form.”

No one in Budapest could
swallow that one and general
opinion was confirmed the
following day.

In Szabad Ifusag and Buda-
pesti Este, two other news-
papers, the president of Hon-
ved announced that Puskas
had been suspended by the
club for two weeks and this
was the reason why he would
not play against the Czechs.

The article also protested at
the fact that sports officials
and newspapers should be try-
ing to cover up the sins of a
star player.

Since then the argument
has raged fast and furious
with a regular battle of words
in the press. Nepsport itself
was inundated with letters
and criticisms from~ sports
leaders to fans in the towns
and villages of this sportcrazy
country.

One of the most telling ar-
ticles, however, was published
in the weekly magazine Beke
Es Szabsag by leading writer
Mate Kyorgy entitled, “There
have to be changes in the
leadership of our football.

“Our football is in a crisis.

We can see now the conse-

quences of adulation of star
players; of lack of attention
to training; the excessive role
of material interests.

“Above all, the thing that
has done the greatest damage
to our football is the personal
dictatorship of Gustav: Sebes.”

The most striking charge
levelled against him is this:

“After the World Cup the
paper Nepsport tried to evalu-
ate the mistakes made then.

“As soon as the articles were
published Sebes, without any
explanation threw out the
chief-editor.

“The Information Bureau of

the Council of Ministers, and
the National Federation of
Journalists protested, but to
no avail. Naturally those who
remained on the editorial
board were not too daring in
their criticisms -after that.

“It. is in the. interests~ of
every Hungarian: player and
the public that this should be
changed. and that the leader-
ship should be given to a
board which will correct the
big mistakes of the past years
and give back the old force to
our football, full as it is of
great natural talent.”

What will be the outcome
of it all? That’s the $64 ques-
tion.

My opinion is that it would
be. wrong to make Sebes the
scapegoat» and forget éntirely
the part he has playéd in giv-
ing the world a team that has
helped inspire football pro-
gress in so many countries.

Equally it would be a big
mistake to put the national
side under some kind of board
management.

On the other hand it’s
equally: clear that a national
team manager has to be made
answerable’ to the controlling
committee, press and public if
the past is not be repeated.

You can- be pretty certain
that Hungary’s national stars
will now have to submit to
discipline and strict training
or make way for others.

But even“ that won’t put
Ifungary baek on top.

In fact, we'can now expect
a partial eclipse of the Magyar
Magicians for two or three

years.
Why only two or three
years?
Because, despite all the

storm of criticism now going
on about failure to develop
younger players, the fact is
that from what I’ve seen over
the past year, the coaching and
other facilities are in fact
turning out players of really
top-class technique and ability.

Within five years at the
most I expect to see another
Hungarian team every bit as
good as Puskas- and Co. in
their heyday:

SEPTEMBER 7%, 1956 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 15

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