ZAGREB, July 24 (Hina) - The debt of the soccer clubs Hajduk, Dinamo, Rijeka and Osijek toward the state, which, according to preliminary findings, amounts to about 577 million kuna, will have to be paid, Finance Minister Mato
Crkvenac said on Monday, dismissing the possibility for the state to write off the debt. Politicians and groups which mediated between politicians and athletes should be excluded from sports and the legal basis for the functioning of sports and fulfilment of obligations by athletes must be regulated better, Crkvenac said. He added the Finance Ministry, in cooperation with the Tax Administration and the Financial Police, would deal with the problem of debts and collect them in the coming period. "All will have to fulfil their obligations and be very regular in the future in fulfilling their obligations the way tax payers in other segments of society are," Crkvenac said. The situation in which
ZAGREB, July 24 (Hina) - The debt of the soccer clubs Hajduk,
Dinamo, Rijeka and Osijek toward the state, which, according to
preliminary findings, amounts to about 577 million kuna, will have
to be paid, Finance Minister Mato Crkvenac said on Monday,
dismissing the possibility for the state to write off the debt.
Politicians and groups which mediated between politicians and
athletes should be excluded from sports and the legal basis for the
functioning of sports and fulfilment of obligations by athletes
must be regulated better, Crkvenac said.
He added the Finance Ministry, in cooperation with the Tax
Administration and the Financial Police, would deal with the
problem of debts and collect them in the coming period.
"All will have to fulfil their obligations and be very regular in
the future in fulfilling their obligations the way tax payers in
other segments of society are," Crkvenac said.
The situation in which workers, craftsmen or professors are paying
contributions and athletes are not will no longer be tolerated.
Those who earn more have to contribute more to the community,
Crkvenac said.
Crkvenac believes that politicians and managers, rather than
athletes, are responsible for the current difficult situation in
soccer clubs.
The chief Financial Police inspector, Stanko Vidic, informed
reporters that the findings in the four soccer clubs were not final
because the clubs were expected to submit their objections and the
objections would have to be replied to. The accounts of Hajduk,
Osijek and Dinamo were blocked before the findings of the Financial
Police were completed, Vidic said, adding the police had recently
started investigations in Marsonia and Sibenik soccer clubs.
The unpaid obligations of those clubs, amounting to some 577.5
million kuna, refer to income tax, contributions on salaries, Value
Added Tax, turnover tax on services and surtax. According to the
current findings, Dinamo owes the state about 303.2 million kuna,
Hajduk 192.5 million kuna, Osijek 54.4 million and Rijeka 47.3
million kuna.
The head of the Tax Administration, Ivan Ivekovic, said soccer
clubs, too, were subject to forced collection and models of
collection would depend on individual situations.
Minister Crkvenac expressed dissatisfaction with the operation of
the Croatian Lottery in the past period, which, he said, had
significantly affected the situation in Croatian sports.
"The Lottery was not efficient enough as a factor which should
realise considerable profit in Croatia and support development and
other activities in the state, but served individual interests,"
Crkvenac said, announcing major changes in the Croatian Lottery,
starting with the replacement of its Supervisory Board and a
request for a clear operation programme.
Speaking about claims that parliament lacked about six million kuna
for further work, Crkvenac recalled that the parliament's budget
had been cut this year and that more representatives, who recently
worked very intensively, were sitting in the parliament, which
resulted in higher costs.
(hina) rml