The MOB General Assembly has withdrawn confidence from Krisztián Kulcsár!

Prior to the exceptional MOB general meeting, which began at 11 a.m. on Thursday, the president, Krisztián Kulcsár, and Bálint Vékássy, Secretary General, walked into the great hall of the Larus Event Center smiling.

A few minutes after eleven, the pulpit was empty, but only two people were seated on it at the start: Kulcsár and Vékássy. At other times, the Board members, even Tünde Szabó, Secretary of State for Sports, also sit there, but there was no sign of this now.

Kulcsár took the microphone and began: "I suggest you take your seats so we can start the general meeting!" Subsequently, the General Assembly was declared to have a quorum, and the president spoke again.

"When accusations are made against a man, it is difficult to stop him from speaking. I failed anyway because there are news about my presidency, and my silence could not calm tempers. I sense distrust, and although several people wanted to persuade me to resign, it was clear to me that I wanted to stand before you and you decide,” Kulcsár said.

The president of the Hungarian Judo Federation, László Tóth, then asked for the presidential report to be taken off the agenda – to not have comments, but only a vote of no confidence. Krisztián Kulcsár put the issue to the vote: the proposal was accepted. It was a somewhat unexpected turn of events that there were no comments at all.

Kulcsár wanted Pál Schmitt to be the president who presided over the vote, but he passed it on to someone else. After a unanimous vote, Dr. Etele Baráth was finally appointed to this task.

This was already indicative, since in the Kulcsár era, the former President of Hungary, Pál Schmitt, who had always been Kulcsár's mentor, was the president who presided over the vote, but now he has refused the nomination.

Soon after, the voting began, which went in order. Sándor Wladár, president of the Hungarian Swimming Association, threw the last ballot paper into the ballot box. In the end, 43 people were allowed to vote on the only item on the agenda of the exceptional general meeting.

The counting also took place in order, and Etele Baráth announced the final result: "The number of ballot papers recorded was 43 with one invalid vote. 18 voted with yes, and 24 with no. The general assembly has withdrawn confidence from Krisztián Kulcsár."

Finally, Kulcsár also spoke again: "I take note of the decision. I won't travel to Beijing. I'm stepping down as president from January 31. If my successor is elected by February 1, he could be at the Winter Olympics."

According to the statutes, the presidential election assembly should be convened by February 15, but it is in the organization's interest to have it scheduled for early February because of the Beijing Olympics. The decision is in the hands of the Board members, who stated they will next meet on January 12.

Translated by Vanda Orosz