Entrepreneur and sports sponsor Anton Siekel has been appointed the new President of the Slovak Olympic Committee. He received 88 of 109 votes at the Committee's 51st general assembly.
"I want the committee to be a working firm, a company whose employees go to work knowing exactly what to do and for whom to do it. I want our staff to enjoy their work," said Anton Siekel explaining his vision. The previous president, Frantisek Chmelar, will step down after 17 years.
"He is such a great manager that he has all the attributes to run the Slovak Olympic Committee, maybe even better than me," said the former president, who has often been criticised for his collaboration with the Communist secret police, the StB. He was only the Committee's second manager in its history.
Anton Siekel beat his 3 rivals by a very comfortable margin, receiving 88 votes while Branislav Delei was a distant runner-up with 9 votes, tailed by Marian Majzlik with 6 and Milan Jagnesak with 5. Branislav Delei could not hide his disappointment:
"First reaction? Disappointment, a great disappointment," he said for RTVS, admitting that he had expected to receive more votes. I trusted people who told me vis-a-vis that they would support my vision, concluded the beaten candidate.
The delegates of the General Assembly have also chosen the members of the new committee. The board is still missing a representative for winter sports.
