With the specific conditions in Czech tennis, he enjoyed himself. When he asked the association to investigate the suspicious dealings of the now-accused member of the supervisory board of the association, Vojtěch Flégl, they took away the international women’s tournament that he had organized for many years at Lake Mách. Ronald Wawrečka is now striving for reforms through the Tennis without Krunýř initiative.
The name of the initiative refers to the conspiratorial naming of measures implemented by the president of the Czech Tennis Association, Ive Kaderka.
According to the police, it was the Krunýř action, which mainly consisted in the retroactive modification of contracts, that the accused launched when they began to suspect that a noose was being tightened around them.
Tennis without Krunýř aims to restore dignity and moral credit to Czech tennis.
“Czech tennis is extremely successful on a global scale. It deserves an organization that it can be proud of, that it trusts and in which every professional and amateur generally feels good. There was an atmosphere of fear and it still is. Previously, every disobedient person was threatened by the disfavor of the authorities, financial penalty or even dissolution of the organization.” says Wawrečka in an interview for Aktuálně.cz.
What was going through your head at the moment when the accusations against Kaderek and the other accused came to light?
What do they call it in the association and how big a problem it will be for Czech tennis. I must admit, I did not expect that the police had been investigating the case since 2022, and I was also surprised by the extent of the accusations.
Can you describe your own specific experiences with the approval of the top management of the Czech Tennis Association?
My own experience is connected with the history of the Macha Lake Open tournament, of which I was a long-time director and organizer. This is already a publicly known case, when this traditional tournament was taken away from us by the leadership of the union and I personally was publicly dishonored basically for allowing myself to answer a few questions from a journalist. Paradoxically, thanks to this, it became clear that Mr. Flégl is probably abusing us, our sponsors, volunteers and enthusiasts around the tournament, for his own enrichment. In this context, we have sent several initiatives to the leadership of the union and requested an investigation into the transactions between Mr. Flégl and the union. The result was the withdrawal of the tournament and its transfer to Říčany. It was evident that Mr. Flégl has the support and cover of the Czech tennis leadership for his activities. Today, of course, thanks to the police investigation, we finally understand why this happened.
Out of curiosity, how did your suggestions and requests for investigation turn out?
It’s a bit of a laugh today. Just a week before the two gentlemen were accused, we received an official letter from the union stating that our suggestions were investigated by the Executive Committee and the CTS Council and no wrongdoing was found.
Did you have the feeling that Mr. Kaderka and Mr. Flégl were somehow untouchable?
I think they mainly had that feeling themselves and those around them didn’t question it. I never saw them in black and white, they did a lot of good for Czech tennis, but in the end they led it into the quagmire.
The temporary head of the union, Jan Stočes, claimed at a press conference after his appointment that the accusations were a huge shock to him. He literally said, “No one knew that. They’re all shocked.” Do you think it is even possible that someone would not know about how things are going in the union?
I don’t know and I don’t want to make judgments without information. I assume that there are people out there who, thanks to the favor of Mr. Kaderka, had conscious advantages and pleasures, they didn’t even want to be interested in more. But in the same way, people who love tennis and were involved voluntarily and selflessly, only trusted Mr. Kaderek without bounds and naively. Both are perhaps humanly understandable, we at the initiative call it passive alibism. But is this the right and sufficient qualification to be a union official? The past needs to be examined, but for us now the main thing is the present and the future. We are glad that the management of the union declares its intention to put things right, and in this it has our full support. We will see how the transition from words to actions turns out.
The representatives of the biggest Czech clubs do not comment much on the case, or only very cautiously. How do you explain that?
The big clubs did not join our initiative, I did not even indicate any public support for the reform efforts of the CTS management. The big clubs are connected by an umbilical cord to the money conduits from the union and, I think, they basically don’t care who leads the union and how it works, especially if the flow of finances remains unbroken. I don’t think they don’t support change, they just don’t want to engage. In addition, every big club is somehow influentially represented in the management, so what is happening there now is largely the will of these sections and their representatives. However, this approach can change quickly if the flow of funds is seriously threatened. Unfortunately, however, another thing is also worth noting.
Ronald Wawrečka with former fedcup captain Jiří Medonos at Macha Lake Open 2021. | Photo: Archive of Ronald Wawrečka
What do you mean?
That practically no current or recently active tennis representative, whose sports achievements Mr. Kaderka was so happy to defend in the media, has not openly commented on the case.
How difficult is it to be part of a system that, in your view, does not reward honest and hard work? What did Czech tennis lose? I imagine that must have frustrated and disgusted a lot of capable people.
Everyone knows that tennis as an individual sport is primarily about honest and hard work, but also about mental maturity and personal integrity. Czech tennis is extremely successful on a global scale. Every professional and amateur deserves an organization they can be proud of, trust and generally feel good about. One of the union’s main tasks will therefore be to restore trust between the membership and management.
On the initiative’s website, you invite clubs and individuals to share their experiences with the association. Do you get a lot of them and can you mention any specific ones?
In my opinion, it is necessary to start with the restoration of trust at the level of ordinary departments, from where we receive the most stimuli. It’s always similar in principle: no one cares, we don’t have a stand, the money distribution system isn’t set up correctly, we get sanctions for the slightest misdeeds, and so on. The vast majority only communicate with us under the promise of anonymity. We therefore decided that we would prefer not to specifically publish even those who would probably give us their consent.
Stories of an atmosphere of fear are now surfacing from various sources. Is it ingrained in tennis people by now?
Yes, it is a long-term atmosphere of fear, skepticism and a kind of resignation. Therefore, the response to our initiative is still not as strong as we would expect. We are still in the order of dozens of initiatives, although the numbers are rising. We know that earlier every disobedient was threatened with the disfavor of the authorities, financial penalty or even the dissolution of the organization. But, we believe, that is over. Anyone who has a sincere interest in helping Czech tennis should get in touch. Preferably on his own way through his section and regional organization, he doesn’t even need our initiative.
In interviews, tennis players Marek Gengel and Lukáš Rosol described to us how they were punished when they spoke out against the union in some way or did not want to fully submit. Do you know more similar cases?
Historically, we were very surprised by the behavior of Mr. Kaderka as a representative of Czech tennis towards some legends of our sport, for all of them I would mention the very undignified behavior towards Martina Navrátilová, Mr. Šmíd and Složil or Mr. Kodeš. I do not know specific cases of others, but I have no doubt that they exist.
How quickly was the idea of coming up with the Tennis without a shell initiative born?
As the case surfaced and fragments of the allegations were obtained through the media, I was approached by friends who knew the history surrounding the Macha Lake Open. During the joint discussion, we realized that the problem is not only in the possible failure of an individual, but especially in the systemic environment that allowed and tolerated the investigated activity. We put this basic consideration into context with my experience at the Macha Lake Open and came to the conclusion that we are morally obligated and professionally and informationally qualified to try to do something for the Czech tennis environment beyond my personal efforts to restore the Macha Lake Open tournament.
Can you describe the goals of the initiative? What do you expect from her?
The short-term goal is the dismissal of Mr. Kaderka and Mr. Flégl and the change of the ČTS statutes so that no individual can ever control the union again and standard democratic rules of operation are set. With regard to the election of a new president, we believe that it is better to wait and choose a candidate in a regular selection process, while the regional unions should first have a democratic opinion on his person. We have already sent these specific proposals of ours to the union. In the long term, we want the role of regional unions to be strengthened and the platform of a kind of strong ombudsman to exist, where they will meet and, above all, resolve initiatives from sections and individual members. Then there will be no reason for the Tennis Initiative to exist without Krunýř.
How big a problem is returning subsidies to the National Sports Agency for Czech tennis?
This is a topic that deserves special attention. Given the amount, it should undoubtedly be a big deal. At least that’s how I look at it, because as the organizer of the tournament, I looked at all the money from the sponsors as savings for the association, which can go to the youth or simply somewhere where they are needed for Czech tennis. But it seems to me that the debt doesn’t bother anyone that much, because no one actually pays it out of their own pocket. In addition, there is growing talk that when the NSA investigation takes place in 2022 and 2023, it will have to return several times the amount today. This can cause a certain apathy in trying to solve the matter.
The agency has so far called on the Czech Tennis Association to return part of the subsidy in the amount of 29.7 million crowns, because it used it contrary to the stated purpose. Can you imagine returning this amount?
I can, in some installment plan. Tournaments are canceled, sponsors are convinced, expenses are cut, and the association has some assets. However, the normal operation and financing of the association and clubs will continue to function. I do not believe that the state would want the association to tap into these funds, that would be liquidating for Czech tennis.
And what about paying 100 million?
This will no longer be possible as part of normal activities, a sponsor in a white knight costume will be needed. I do not know what the management of the union is doing now in this context and whether they are fully aware of the essence and seriousness of the problem. It is not yet known whether the union intends to take any legal action to recover damages from the people who caused it. However, a reassuring factor may be the fact that everything that is happening now in management, according to my information, is the lawyers and managers of the general partner, which should be a guarantee of a qualified and transparent approach.
How do you think the June general meeting will turn out? Do you see any candidates for the post of chairman and can you imagine that it will be possible to find someone strong and unencumbered by the “carapace”?
In our opinion, each candidate for the new president of ČTS will have to mainly offer crisis management experience, personal integrity and the ability to represent, and last but not least, discontinuity with the former management. As part of his program, he should propose a specific way of solving the financial situation. Finding such a person in today’s conditions will be extremely difficult, we are not looking for a celebrity, but an experienced worker. I am a little afraid that in this situation, in the search for a quick solution, the union will actually be privatized, when someone very rich, in exchange for solving the financial problem, will want to control the union through a nominated candidate.
What do you suggest to prevent this from happening?
We propose that a new president not be elected at the June general meeting and that the management of the union be temporarily entrusted to the executive committee. He would pre-select several suitable candidates for the new general meeting, which can be convened, for example, in six months, in a standard selection procedure. They should first present their program within the regional associations and gain their support. The most successful candidate was subsequently elected president of the ČTS at the new general meeting.
A journalist revealed a million-dollar case in tennis. They lured me and set a trap, he describes:
Spotlight Aktuálně.cz – Artur Janoušek | Video: Team Spotlight
2024-04-11 04:42:23
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