Dukla to sue over Karviná's relegation case, damages estimated at tens of millions of crowns

The management of Prague football club Dukla intends to seek compensation through the courts after the club was denied priority right to return to the First League ahead of second-tier clubs, following Karviná's disqualification over match-fixing.

According to club representative Turek, after consulting with lawyers, Dukla's leadership remains convinced that as a team relegated from the top flight, the club should have been given preference when filling out the league roster, ahead of "reserve" teams from the second division. Turek believes the amendments to the Czech Football Association's regulations, adopted shortly after Dukla submitted its application, were deliberately targeted.

"We don't want to keep dwelling on this or waste more time on it. But we still believe we suffered damages, and we will seek compensation through the courts," Turek said.

He noted that the difference in club revenue between playing in the First League and the second tier is easy to calculate. "These are well-known figures, the same for everyone. We're talking about tens of millions of crowns," said Dukla's owner.

According to bookmakers, Dukla is considered the second-favorite for promotion after Karviná. Team coach Pavel Šustr believes it's unfair that the Silesian club is even allowed to compete in the second league at all. "It's wrong. It's been proven that Karviná paid bribes and influenced match results. So in my view, they have no place in professional competition. That's purely my personal opinion," the coach said.

Dukla lost its administrative battle to retain its top-flight spot. "A combination of several factors came together, but in the bigger picture, I consider it a minor episode. I don't want to spend too much mental energy on it. I like building things," Turek noted.

"We have two main goals for the new season. First, to live up to our role as favorites and earn points — we don't take that for granted. We'll do everything we can to make it happen. Second, we want to maintain our lead in stadium attendance, since we're among the second-league clubs with significantly above-average crowds. We'll keep taking steps to grow that further," the club owner added.

After relegation from the top flight, the squad underwent yet another major overhaul. "Players like Čermák, Gilbert, Purzitidis, Hunal, and Milla wanted to stay in the First League and took advantage of interest from other clubs. Many new players have arrived. For instance, Matěj Hanousek fit right into the team immediately — he's a professional and ready to play. We also have Šganelec and Lilling from Sparta. I believe they, like everyone else, will bring value to the team. Ambler and Šebrle are returning, and the newcomers Tessilimi and Rotundo are interesting additions. We also have experienced players — it will be a team effort," said coach Šustr.

Defender Jaroslav Svozil, who won the second league title with Opava eight years ago, will captain the team. "I don't know if I have some key to success. Back then, we won a lot through teamwork, without fixating on a long-term goal — we just took it match by match. I think the same approach will apply at Dukla now: focus on every single game and collect points, sometimes perhaps even at the expense of playing beautiful football," Svozil said.

Around Prague, based on reporting by prazsky.denik.cz