Jiří Charvát resumes as president of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic
At its meeting on November 30th, 2023, the final point on the agenda of the Council of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic was the election of the president of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic for a four-year period. The two candidates were the present president since the end of 2019, Ing. Josef Bečvář, and his predecessor, JUDr. Ing. Jiří Charvát, who served as president from April 2014 until December 2019. In the first round of voting, neither candidate won the required two thirds majority, and in the second round Jiří Charvát won by ten votes to five. Legendary jumps jockey and trainer Josef Váňa will continue as vice-president of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic.
Retired general Josef Bečvář cannot have imagined when he took on the post of president of the JCCR four years ago just how difficult a set of unanticipated critical problems he would very soon have to start dealing with. The delicate state of Czech horseracing at the present time, after the Covid-19 pandemic, is far from being his fault. However, it seems that the majority of the voters were in favour of bringing back Jiří Charvát. Jiří Charvát is our leading racehorse owner, and is the dynamic head of the Charvát Group of companies, which he has built up since starting out as a young entrepreneur in the 1990s. He has experience of being president of the JCCR from 2013 to 2019, when he resigned from the post. The Charvát Group is the majority owner of Most racecourse. I think Jiří Charvát is also a sponsor of the Dostihový svět website. Jiří Charvát is able to provide strong leadership for the JCCR.
The following articles on the English language pages of Dostihový svět are about Josef Bečvář, Jiří Charvát and Josef Váňa.
Who are the outgoing and incoming presidents of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic?
Josef Váňa, Czech horseracing’s top personality, reaches the age of 70