Hungarian and Serbian generals play futsal in Szeged

What is the past of the Hungarian-Serbian generals’ match like?

The bilateral Hungarian-Serbian sports meet started at the end of 2015, and since then, we have organized it twice a year: in Serbia in the spring and in Hungary in the autumn. If we meet next year, we will mark the jubilee, as it will be the tenth year in which the sports meet is organized, and we are determined to continue this series of events.

Who has launched this series of sporting events?

It was then Deputy Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Dr. Zoltán Orosz who came up with the idea of this sporting event, which was espoused by Colonel (Ret.) László Farkas, President of the National Alliance of Defence Sports Associations. The first match was organized as a kind of Santa Claus Cup in 2015. The HDF General Staff has supported the event from the beginnings, last year, for example, General Dr. Gábor Böröndi, Chief of HDF General Staff also participated in the match in Pancho Arena, Felcsút, and the leaders of the Ministry of Defence have always stood by us as well.

This October, the event will be hosted in Hungary on a futsal pitch of Pick Arena, the sports arena with the largest capacity in the country that was opened three years ago. Where have the matches been organized so far in Hungary?

We are in Szeged on the first occasion. The choice of the venue was a gesture, among others because it is just 20 kilometers away from the Hungarian-Serbian border. Sof far, most of these sports events have been organized in Tata, Felcsút and Budapest, and within their framework, we have always strived to introduce our Serbian guests to the sights of Hungary. We took them to Buda Castle District, the House of Parliament, the MoD Military History Institute and Museum, and on the last three occasions, we also visited sporting events, too: firstly, it so happened that we went to see the football match between Ferencváros and Crvena Zvezda in the UEFA Europe League, last year we rooted for the national Hungarian football team live when it beat Serbia 2:1, and this Wednesday we were excited to watch a qualifying match of the men’s handball team in the League of Champions, where the host Szeged beat the Polis Industria Kielce.

Who are the superiors that participated in this year’s event?

The deputy chief of defence of the Serbian General Staff was playing, and on our part, Brigadier General Zsolt Molnár, the commander of the Hódmezővásárhely brigade received a delegation from the neighboring country; moreover, Major General Zoltán Somogyi, Director of Staff, HDF General Staff also honored our sporting event with his presence.

What does this event give to the two teams?

Our futsal match strengthens the relations between the two countries in terms of the military and friendship. I hope that through this brotherhood in arms, we, too, can contribute a little to the good relations between Hungary and Serbia.

Do you attribute it to the pro forma factor that the national team of Hungarian generals won today’s match?

Not at all. Although we won twice in recent years, it was only on very rare occasions that our futsal match closed with Hungarian victory. Today’s match has proven to be a close game, as there being no overtime, the match was decided with 7-meter penalties.