Milan Hnilička retired NHL goalie to head National Sports Agency

The government has named Milan Hnilička (ANO), a former star ice hockey goalie elected to parliament in 2017, head of the newly created National Sports Agency.

Hnilička, who proposed creating the agency, has been serving as the government’s commissioner for sport. The body will gradually take over responsibility for distributing state subsidies now handled by the Ministry of Education.

The Czech Union of Sports, which backed the idea, argued a more transparent and less complex system for allocating subsidies was needed.

Most opposition parties voted against it, with the TOP 09 deputies’ club leader calling it an attempt to legalise corruption in sport. Hnilička argued the change was necessary due to what he called the critical state of sports infrastructure in the country.

Credit: Czech Radio