“Jozef Kšiňan: Remembering the Nestor of Slovak Sports Journalism”

BRATISLAVA – The journalist and sports community cried. The last of a great generation of journalists, the nestor of our sports journalism, has left us forever. Author of thousands of articles and dozens of publications, who was also praised by the president of the International Olympic Committee. At the age of 96, journalist Jozef Kšiňan completed his life story.

He devoted himself to journalistic and publicist work for more than 70 years. He successively worked in the editorial offices of Pravda, Smena and the agencies ČSTK and TASR. He wrote mainly about football, classic skiing and boxing. “He left with the grace of a Nestor, with the respect of several generations of his successors, for whom he was a mentor, teacher, role model and partner. The author of thousands of articles knew how to advance hundreds of others from other creators with his knowledge, experience, notes and advice.” the Slovak Football Association pays respect to his personality.

As a journalist, he worked at five Olympics. During the Olympic premiere of the expedition of the independent Slovak Republic at the 1994 Olympic Games, he also externally performed the function of spokesperson for our Olympic team. He also took part in a number of other top sporting events, including the world and European football championships.

He participated in the preparation of approximately 30 publications, mainly devoted to football and the history of Slovan Bratislava. However, he was also an active athlete and coach. He played football, table tennis and tennis.

He had a rich collection of awards. The Slovak Olympic Committee recognized his outstanding publicist and journalistic activity by awarding the SOV Bronze Circles and the Mir Procházka Prize, as well as accepting him as an honorary member and awarding the SOV Gold Badge. He was also the recipient of the Ivan Chodák Fair Play Award, which is awarded by the Slovak Football Association. The Slovak Football Association also inducted him into the Slovak Football Hall of Fame. The former president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, presented him with the IOC Gold Badge.

Even several years after turning ninety, he was still an active author, mainly of texts about the history of Slovak sports, especially football. “Even after turning ninety, he was a source of advice and facts for those around him, a well of information and memories for those journalists who asked for his cooperation. He never refused,” mentioned in the Slovak Football Association.