The head of the Czech tennis federation has been detained as part of a fraud investigation into misuse of state funds that saw its headquarters raided by police this week.
The federation on Friday appointed its sport director Jan Stoces as interim head after a court ordered that its president Ivo Kaderka be kept in a detention cell because of the financial scandal that has rocked Czech tennis.
Prague’s public prosecution office said that a total of five people and five firms, but not the federation itself, have been charged with subsidy fraud.
Kaderka and Vojtech Flegl, a federation board member, are the only two who are in detention following police raids at the federation headquarters in Prague and some other offices across the country earlier this week.
The 60-year-old Kaderka, who has been in charge of the federation since 1998, and Flegl face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of subsidy fraud. They deny wrongdoing.
The other suspects include the federation’s secretary and head of finances, and also Daniel Vacek, a former tennis player who coaches fellow Czech Tomas Machac, currently ranked 65th.
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According to Czech public radio, a company run by Flegl which organizes various tennis tournaments in the country received money from the federation for overpriced or non-existent services, and those funds were later transferred to his other companies and family members.
Czech tennis has a proud history that includes former greats such as Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl, while Marketa Vondrousova is the reigning women’s Wimbledon champion.
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