Key actors — tap for context
László Budai II
Hungarian footballer, right winger of the Golden Team
Why here: his silver medal from the 1954 World Cup is owned by the Papp family
Mezőkövesd Zsóry FC
Hungarian football club
Why here: it had the medal for an exhibition, claims it vanished from the stadium
András Tállai
chairman of Mezőkövesd club
Why here: according to the family, he personally received the medal and documents
Golden Team
Hungarian national football team from the 1950s, in Hungarian Aranycsapat
Why here: the silver medal belongs to one of its players
When Illés Papp decided this spring to sell the medal and first offered it to the club, he says he received a response that the club had never received it. After presenting the documents and photographs, the club allegedly changed its claim: the medal had vanished from the stadium, and it filed a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator. According to Telex, the police did not order an investigation because the complaint was filed after the statute of limitations had expired. Telex ↗
The family is demanding the medal back; if the club is unable to return it, they are demanding 10 million forints plus interest and legal costs. According to NB1 and Telex, neither the club nor Tállai had commented on the matter by deadline. NB1 ↗
*Illustrative photo: the stadium of Mezőkövesd Zsóry FC. Photo by Zemszo, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).*
