The topic of the use of “Greater Hungary” symbols in football matches has been on the front pages for the past few days, and only the intervention of UEFA clarified the situation. It all started with a message from the Hungarian Football Federation stating that it had permission from the European Forum to display this symbol in the stands during international football matches.

Chronology of the theme of the use of the symbols of “Great Hungary” at international matches

• On Tuesday, March 21, the Hungarian Football Federation announced that it had received approval from UEFA and FARE to use the historic symbol of Great Hungary in national team matches.

• On Wednesday, March 22, the FRF will request UEFA’s official point of view on the hot topic. The European Forum denies that it allowed the use of the symbol of “Greater Hungary”.

• On Wednesday, March 22, the Hungarian Football Federation received a response to UEFA’s statement: the Budapest Forum remains firm in its position and states that fans can fly the flags of “Greater Hungary”, but only if they follow certain rules announced at the beginning.

Who is Sandor Chanyi, the president of the Hungarian Football Federation

Sandor Canyi (age 70) was elected president of the Hungarian Football Federation in July 2010, the same year Viktor Orbán was elected prime minister of Hungary.

Over time, they could be seen together many times, Sandor was considered one of Orbán’s close friends.

Currently, the Hungarian businessman holds the following positions in the field of sports: Vice-President of FIFA (elected in February 2019) and Vice-President of UEFA (also from the same year – initially elected to the UEFA Executive Committee in 2015).

Chanyi is also the head of UEFA’s national football team competition committee. In addition, he is also a member of the strategic board of the European Professional Football Forum.

In addition to his important involvement in football (both in Hungary and at the European and global levels), Sándor is the owner of the handball team PICK Szeged.

He is also the honorary vice-president of the International Judo Federation.

Education

• In 1987, he graduated from the Budapest Business School with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

• In 1980, he graduated from the Budapest University of Economics with a diploma in economics. In 1983, he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Sandor Chanyi, according to a Forbes profile

Sandor Canyi is the richest Hungarian, according to the cited source. His fortune is estimated at 1.5 billion dollars.

With an agonizing dowry, Sandor currently occupies the 1899th place in the world in the list of the richest people on the planet.

Forbes considers him the most influential banker in Hungary, he is the CEO of OTP Bank. He headed OTP in 1992.

It is also one of the most important figures in Hungarian agriculture: Boafarm owns the second largest slaughterhouse in the neighboring country.

He is a member of the board of directors of the regional oil giant MOL.

From 1983 to 1986, he headed the department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry.

• Years: 70

• Fields of activity: finance, real estate, agriculture.

• Place of residence: Budapest

• Married, father of five children.