The front page of the Czech economic daily Hospodarske noviny carries what ti claims are some of the dirty laundry from the failed lottery company Sazka, whose construction of major sports and entertainment arena drove it to the brink of bankruptcy. Rather than serving as a cash cow with which to fund all levels of Czech sports, the bonds taken out to finance the over-priced stadium became the basis of its downfall. Its director Ales Husak, who spearheaded the project, is said to have been earning CZK 5.6m per month (€225,000), while the paper says his office desk cost €60,000, just under €9m was spent on “consulting” fees for foreign expansion which never took place and over €1m was spent on artistic works. During the company’s deepest crisis in 2011, employees were given €1.67m in bonuses, which may go some way to explaining the high degree of loyalty to the company’s boss all the way until the end, when he was ousted by the owners of bonds the company defaulted on.
