Former Football Official on Trial for Involvement in Organized Crime Group and Match-Fixing

However, he emphatically denied participation in an organized criminal group, where he was one of the four main actors, according to the indictment, at the very beginning of his testimony. The former vice-chairman of the Football Association of the Czech Republic, Roman Berbr, who is one of the 22 accused and, according to the file, led the organized criminal group, came to listen.

“I don’t agree that I was a member of it,” said Káník.

He stated that he had been active in football for 20 years but had decided to retire from it. “Football brought me into very difficult financial problems. That’s why I got off the train and ended my engagement,” explained Káník, who would like to enter into a plea agreement. Prosecutor Jan Scholle is proposing an unconditional four-year prison term and a fine of 504,000 crowns.

“I admit, I made a mistake by influencing Vyšehrad’s friendly match with Motorlet because of bets,” said Káník.

He said that he agreed with the referee and his friend Tomáš Grímm and arranged the desired result in favor of Vyšehrad. For this, he, Grímm and two assistants were to receive 4,000 euros. He further testified that the club’s sports manager and another defendant, Roman Rogoz, came up with the idea. “Because we were friends. And I had experience with bets, how to organize them,” he added.

After all, he was already convicted once because of bets and also tax fraud. Káník also admitted that he influenced the Radotín – Dobrovice match. However, he very often answered “I don’t know,” “I don’t remember,” “I have no idea” to supplementary questions from the judge, the public prosecutor, and the defense attorneys of the other accused.

The former first league player and official also admitted to participating in the embezzlement of money from the PKFS. “I am sorry for what happened. I want to return the money,” he referred to his statement in the preliminary proceedings. In the afternoon, he already refused to testify, so the judge only read his previous statement.

Since, according to the file, Káník was one of the main actors of the organized group, which also featured Bergr, Rogoz and Grímm, their mutual relations were also discussed. According to the indictment, the quartet was supposed to influence matches in favor of Vyšehrad, which was promoted from the third league to the second.

“Tomas Grímm and I have known each other for a long time. We are longtime friends. He really always helped me,” stated Káník. According to him, Rogoz was friendly, even jovial, towards the referees. In contrast, Berbr was allegedly very strict and did not let anyone near his body, let alone judge.