The 2026 UEFA Champions League final in Budapest is only two days away. However, severe financial problems have emerged at the event management companies linked to businessman Gyula Balásy due to an ongoing criminal investigation, potentially jeopardizing the organization of one of the world’s most-watched football events.
According to Hungarian media reports, several companies within the Lounge Group have effectively become insolvent after the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) froze their bank accounts as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. The companies allegedly owe nearly HUF 300 million to subcontractors, while multiple service providers involved in preparations for the 30 May Champions League final have reportedly refused to continue work without advance payment.
The situation could directly affect the final’s accompanying events in Budapest, including the fan festival and concerts planned around the match. Reports also claim that the group has struggled to pay the fee of British DJ Sigala, one of the event’s scheduled star performers.
The Lounge Group itself admitted that the financial difficulties are serious and confirmed that it had requested state assistance. According to the company, several suppliers responsible for event technology, security, decoration, sanitation infrastructure, and catering warned that they would not continue operations without at least partial pre-financing.
The scandal comes only weeks after Gyula Balásy, one of the largest beneficiaries of state advertising contracts during the past 16 years, unexpectedly appeared in an interview with Hungarian outlet Kontroll, owned by the brother of Prime Minister Péter Magyar, where he announced that he was ‘willing to hand over his companies to the Hungarian state’. Balásy claimed that the freezing of company accounts had occurred without warning and argued that the measures endangered major international events, including the Budapest Champions League final and MotoGP-related projects.
Balásy became one of the most powerful businessmen of the Orbán era through his companies New Land Media and Lounge Design, which dominated government communication and advertising procurement contracts for years.
The ongoing investigation into Balásy’s companies reportedly began in April 2024 over suspected breach of fiduciary duty, money laundering, and allegedly overpriced state contracts. Hungarian authorities are investigating whether government assignments were carried out at several times the market price.
‘The former prime minister…viewed the organization of the Champions League final in Budapest as one of the symbolic peaks of Hungary’s sports policy’
The new government, led by Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party, is reportedly negotiating a possible temporary state takeover or supervision of parts of the company group in order to avoid jeopardizing the Champions League final and other ongoing projects. Media reports also highlighted that government officials had internally warned that the reputational damage to Hungary would be severe if the event’s organization collapsed just days before kick-off.
Budapest was selected as the host of the 2026 UEFA Champions League final back in 2024. The decision was widely welcomed by the former Orbán government as a major international sporting success and a validation of Hungary’s extensive sports infrastructure investments under Viktor Orbán.
The former prime minister, arguably one of Europe’s most football-obsessed political leaders, viewed the organization of the Champions League final in Budapest as one of the symbolic peaks of Hungary’s sports policy.
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