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The biggest and most famous sports clubs in Brno will have a common owner. Football club Zbrojovka Brno announced on Thursday that its majority owner will be the head of hockey Kometa Libor Zábranský. Neither party disclosed the amount of the transaction.
“Libor Zábranský takes over 80% of the ownership of the club, the lawyers are currently finalizing this acquisition. This is followed by further steps with the transfer of the club to Libor Zábranský as the majority owner,” said Zbrojovka in a press release.
Libor Zábranský did not respond to Seznam Práv’s question regarding joining Zbrojovka. In an interview for the Komety club website, he said that he decided to join Brno football because of patriotism. “In the past, I have stated to the media several times that I would like both clubs to be strong and healthy. Now there is an opportunity to directly influence it. And I decided to go for it,” he declared.
Zbrojovka Brno is currently in 10th place in the second football league. Its current owner, former director of the construction company OHL ŽS Václav Bartoněk, considered selling the club already last summer. The main interest in Zbrojovka was the financial entrepreneur Pavel Svoreň, but he did not agree with Bartoňek. “Don’t be angry, I won’t comment on it now,” Svoreň told Seznam Zprávám.
Comet and Zbrojovka on the exhibition grounds
The entry of Kometa’s owner into Zbrojovka Brno may be related to the plan to build a new hockey hall and football stadium at the Brno exhibition grounds. The construction of the multifunctional arena for six billion crowns began last September. The investor is the city of Brno, and the city company Arena Brno will operate the hall with a capacity of 13,300 seats.
A new football stadium should also be built in the neighborhood. Its location in the Brno Exhibition Center area was decided by the city management in September. “The construction of a new football complex on the site of the current velodrome has become a place with overwhelming positives,” the sports councilor Tomáš Aberl told journalists at the time.
The municipality wants to obtain a building permit for the new stadium for Zbrojovka Brno by 2027, which will probably only be completed following the hockey hall is completed. The city wants to finance it from its own resources as well as a combination of European, state and regional money.
