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The Ferencváros Torna Club (FTC) and the National Theater have signed a strategic cooperation agreement: as a first step, Gyula Bodrogi, Actor of the Nation, will kick off the Champions League qualifier against KÍ Klaksvík from the Faroe Islands at the Groupama Arena on July 19.
The announcement was made on Thursday by FTC President, Gábor Kubatov, at a joint press conference between the club and the theater. The sporting director stressed that sport is part of culture and both have values that are decisive for society at all times. “Both theater and football matches give spectators a sense of community, strength and pride, and shape national identity,” he added. He said it was of the utmost importance for the future of the country that
the preservation of values in both the world of theater and sport should be increasingly emphasized.
“This cooperation is an important step towards achieving our common goals,” underlined Kubatov.
Attila Vidnyánszky, CEO of the National Theater Nonprofit Kft., stressed that art and sport also create festive occasions in people’s lives. He added that theater portrays heroes, and football fields give birth to heroes with whom people can also identify. The theater director, a Transcarpathian Hungarian who also spent a few months at the academy of Dinamo Kiev (Ukrainian football club), recalled that in the Eclipse of the Crescent Moon (Egri csillagok by Géza Gárdonyi), Captain Dobó calls his soldiers to battle and encourages them, and that the audience undergoes a similar experience when they see the FTC players coming together before matches.
The Grupama Arena is the home of Ferencváros TC. Pgoto via Facebook/Grupama Aréna
Gyula Bodrogi, who is about to kick off the qualifier the UEFA Champions League, confessed that he has been a big fan of FTC and the Hungarian national team since he was 12 years old, 77 years ago. Back then, he played football, and as a player of Gamma FC (also called MATEOSZ) he had the opportunity to train with Gyula Grosics, the goalkeeper of the so-called Golden Team. As he said, he is very proud to be starting in the Champions League and is already preparing for the event.
Gyula Bodrogi was elected as Actor of the Nation in 2007. Photo via Wikipedia
The agreement also includes the National Theater’s participation in FTC events with cultural programs, such as a family day at the club’s base in Népliget (the biggest public park in Budapest) at the end of August.
The theater will also give Ferencváros fans and the club’s players a behind-the-scenes look at the theater and encourage their commitment to theater culture.
FTC offers the theater the opportunity to promote its performances on the thematic days of home matches.
Gyula Bodrogi receiving his jersey. Photo via MTI/Bruzák Noémi
After signing the agreement, the club presented Attila Vidnyánszky, Gyula Bodrogi, and Zoltán Rátóti, the strategic director of the National Theater Nonprofit Kft., with a jersey bearing the club’s name.
Via MTI, Featured photo via MTI/Bruzák Noémi
