By: A. G. (Nova24tv.si)
On Friday, the Stožice stadium hosted a charity football match for flood victims organised by Aleksander Čeferin, or as the media euphorically reported, a “real charity football spectacle”. The event was also broadcast on television screens, and the whole thing was reported on in practically all the media and newspapers before and after the event, and, according to the organisers, was broadcast in more than 100 countries around the world. The highly publicised event, with world football stars (millionaires), UEFA President Čeferin (millionaire) and the political top brass (millionaires), raised 3.5 million euros for the victims of the floods. The question is whether this is really a lot for such a well-publicised event, especially considering all of the people that took part in it.
The match was also attended by the entire political elite of the left – from Ljubljana’s Mayor Zoran Janković to Prime Minister Robert Golob and starlet Tina Gaber, lawyer Peter Čeferin, European Commissioner Janez Lenarčič, President of the Republic Nataša Pirc Musar, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, MEP Matjaž Nemec, and others. They cleverly used the event for self-promotion, even though this is exactly what they accused Janez Janša of doing, who came to help those affected every day, immediately after the floods, and helped with the physical part of the recovery.
“The match and all other fundraising campaigns are commendable. The problem is that some politicians have misused it to promote themselves and have done nothing except buy a ticket for the match (like everyone else). The charitable organisation Karitas has raised 5 million, but I have not seen its Secretary-General being celebrated like Čeferin. And I also commend him for making this possible,” commented Boris Tomasič on the X social network.
Individuals raised more money with smaller campaigns
“The Stars of Football charity match for flood victims, initiated by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) President Aleksander Čeferin and broadcast in more than 100 countries, met its objective in every respect,” the media reported. Did it really? The goal of individual self-promotion may have been achieved, but the amount of money raised certainly was not. Although Čeferin said that he had no idea that they would raise so much money and that the stadium would sell out so quickly.
But the question still remains whether the 3.5 million raised is really so worthy of praise. After all, 16,000 tickets were sold, which cost 20 euros each, along with VIP tickets that cost 100 and 500 euros. Money was also raised through various donations, sponsors… Considering that millionaires were part of the event (at least that’s how they presented themselves to the public), this amount is ridiculously small. Let us recall that Robert Golob, as the President of the Management Board of the Gen-I energy company, received a special bonus of 1.9 million euros in addition to his gross salary of just over 400,000 euros in just one year. The Mayor of Ljubljana also has millions at his disposal – his Ljubljana villa alone is worth more than two million euros, according to the magazine Reporter. The Musar couple are also millionaires, with the largest holdings in financial investments and companies. We also asked them all how much they had personally contributed to the flood victims, which we will report on.
It is also worth noting that Denis Avdić raised two million euros with the help of the people, without the government elite and celebrities, through the Radio 1 campaign. Many entrepreneurs and organisations have raised just as much or even more – without the same media publicity and praise as the charity football match. When Ivo Boscarol himself donated 28 million euros to the Municipality of Ajdovščina, 3.5 million euros to the fire brigade; when entrepreneur Aleš Štancar donated half a million euros to the flood victims; when churchgoers across Slovenia raised almost a million euros in one single Sunday for the flood victims, the media were silent or only briefly mentioned it.
Either way, this amount can also be put to good use – as long as it reaches the people who need it …
