The president of the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ), Sándor Czányi, said that he is trying to get the symbol of Great Hungary and the Arpadius flag accepted by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

In an exclusive interview with the sports channel of the Hungarian public television M4 Sport, the president of MLSZ said that he is still not sure that these symbols can be displayed in the stadium. At the same time, he signaled that he would discuss this aspect with UEFA representatives, quoted by Vilaggazdasag and Rador.

“If the MLSZ organizes a championship, the teams have to accept the announced playing conditions. The situation is similar at the international level. If we want to play in the preliminary matches of the European Football Championship, the Nations League or even the Champions League and the Europa League, then we have to accept the announced playing conditions. According to UEFA, banners with racist or political messages cannot be placed. The question is whether the symbol of Greater Hungary carries a political message. In our opinion, it does not,” said Sándor Czányi, who is also a UEFA vice-president.

The MLSZ president said that while FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe), UEFA’s anti-discrimination group, denied it would punish the Great Hungary symbol, it had criticized the symbol three times in recent times before UEFA’s Disciplinary Committee. , each time qualifying him as a revisionist and nationalist.

Sándor Çanyi also spoke about another symbol criticized by FARE: “The Árpádia flag is in the Hungarian Parliament among the historical flags of Hungary and has been the official flag of Hungary for centuries. It was a really short period in the history of Hungary when he embodied fascism and racism, he was considered their symbol. But I think that a shorter period cannot be preceded by a much longer one.”

Canyi also said that he does not want to see Arpadia flags in the stands as Hungary has an official flag, but he would not want Hungarian fans, the association and the national team to be penalized if a fan comes with an Arpadia flag.

“If the fans want to come up with these symbols so much, and I also don’t think that the use of these symbols is as exaggerated as they are judged to be, we will try to do it in a way that is accepted by UEFA. But we are not alone in Europe. Fans of neighboring countries may, on the contrary, be annoyed by these symbols, so we cannot decide on our own whether they can be used or not, we can only decide at the end of the negotiation process,” he said, quoted by Rador.

Viktor Orbán appeared wearing a scarf with a map of Great Hungary

The withdrawal of football player Balazs Judshak from the national team became an opportunity for Viktor Orban to make a new provocative gesture. The leader of FIDESZ appeared at the end of November with a red, white and green scarf and a map of Greater Hungary, which also includes Transylvania.

And Ukrainian media showed footage of Orbán’s meeting with a Hungarian football player wearing a scarf with a map of Greater Hungary, which includes territories that are now part of neighboring Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Ukraine.

It is not the first time that Viktor Orbán has shown the symbols of Greater Hungary, causing controversy. In 2020, on the occasion of the History VET, Viktor Orbán posted on Facebook an image with a map of Greater Hungary, which also includes Transylvania.

Slovenia also reacted at the time, with President Borut Pahor saying that this was not the first public appearance of the map in question and that it could be understood as an expression of territorial claims that should concern “the public and democratic politicians”.