Football club Dynamo České Budějovice has withdrawn its reserve team from the Czech Republic's fourth-tier division just days before the start of the 2026/2027 season — Saturday's scheduled match against Nýrsko will no longer take place. According to the Football Association of the Czech Republic, the club submitted written notice of its withdrawal on Friday afternoon, a full day before the opening round.
The association has already announced its sanction: under competition regulations, the club faces a fine of 500,000 crowns for the move.
In an official statement, Dynamo's management rejected any suggestion that the decision was purely sporting in nature. According to the club, withdrawing the team from the league is "a direct consequence of events and decisions over the past twelve months" that have seriously undermined the club's operations.
The main problem, the club says, is the City of České Budějovice's termination of the stadium lease agreement, which Dynamo claims was one of the key reasons behind the loss of its professional license. As a result, the first team will play in the third league rather than the second this coming season, while the reserve squad found itself in the fourth division.
Club representatives say the fallout has extended well beyond sport: dozens of players, coaches and staff have lost their jobs, while local partners and suppliers have seen their income from cooperation with the club shrink.
Meanwhile, a protracted conflict over the club's potential sale continues. The South Bohemian Region offered Dynamo's owner, Nneka Ede, 32.5 million crowns for her shares in the club, but she rejected the offer.
Regional Governor Martin Kuba explained that the sum is lower than what the owner had proposed selling the club for back in June, but stressed that the region, as a public institution, is obliged to act responsibly when spending public funds.
The club maintains that it has conducted negotiations transparently and in good faith throughout, granting auditors full access to its financial, legal and operational documentation. Dynamo insists it pushed for a signed term sheet fixing the conditions of the deal — but, according to the club, Martin Kuba rejected this proposal and insisted on continuing the audit without clear boundaries or a timeline.
The club considers it unacceptable to first contribute to devaluing the team over the course of a year, then offer to buy it back at a price reflecting the consequences of that very process, while presenting it as fair market value. This, the club says, is why the formal purchase offer was turned down.
The club separately pointed to difficulties with the first team's training process: roughly 90% of the squad are graduates of its own academy, yet throughout the entire pre-season the players were forced to train at facilities in neighboring towns, since the city will not allow them to use the Složiště training center.
According to Dynamo's leadership, the reserve team was meant to serve as a natural bridge between the academy and professional football, but neither the city nor the regional authorities have taken responsibility for shielding the B team from the fallout of the current situation.
The decision to withdraw the reserve team from the competition is final. The club will now compete in the new season with only one senior team — the first squad kicks off in the third league on Sunday with a home match against Admira Praha.
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Source: sport.cz