Arrival of the ice hockey world champions at Old Town Square (2010)
Sports play a significant part in the life of many Czechs who are generally loyal supporters of their favourite teams or individuals.
The two leading sports in the Czech Republic are football and ice hockey, both drawing the largest attention of both the media and supporters. The many other sports with professional leagues and structures include basketball, volleyball, team handball, Czech handball, athletics, floorball and others. Sport is a source of strong waves of patriotism, usually rising several days or weeks before an event and sinking several days after.
Football has been a popular sport amongst the locals. Previously the old Czechoslovakia team were a force to be reckoned with, finishing runners-up twice in the World Cup and winning UEFA Euro 1976. The sport gained even more support when the national team qualified for their first World Cup since the break-up of Czechoslovakia. More recently players such as Petr Čech, Tomáš Rosický and Pavel Nedvěd have gone on to achieve great success at top European clubs and have become national icons.
Floorball became a very popular sport in the last two decades in the Czech Republic. Czech Floorball, which is officially the Czech floorball association and a member of IFF, was established in 1992. In 2023 it had more than 70,000 members.[2] This places Czech Floorball in third position between Finland and Switzerland in number of members worldwide. Since 1996, when the first Men's World Floorball Championship took place, until 2023, the Czech Republic men's national floorball team have achieved two second place (2004 and 2022) and two third place finishes. In the 2019 and 2021Czech juniors won the gold medal in the U19 world championship in Halifax and Brno. The Superliga florbalu and Extraliga žen ve florbale are the highest Czech floorball leagues. Many Czechs also play floorball in their free time at an amateur level.
American Football
The domestic league Czech League of American Football that features four levels of play and also a woman's division. The Czech Bowl is the final of the top league. The Prague Black Panthers founded in 1991 have won 18 Czech league championships and has competed in European Football League.
There is also a National team representing the country in international competition.
Bandy
The national bandy team made its Bandy World Championship debut in 2016. In Nymburk an annual international rink bandy tournament was organised.[3] In 2017 Federation of International Bandy decided to make it an official one.[4] As of 2019, four teams are playing in the national rink bandy league. It is already decided that more will participate in 2019.[5] A variety of rink bandy called short bandy has been invented in Czechia.[6] In terms of licensed athletes, bandy is the second biggest winter sport in the world.[7]
Baseball
Baseball is growing in popularity but is still considered a minor sport. The Czech Republic hosted the 2009 Baseball World Cup. A few Czech have signed contracts and are now playing in Minor League Baseball. The Czech Republic was invited to compete in the qualifying round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic.[8]
Cricket has been played in the Czech Republic since 1997, however, as a sports body, joined the ICC International Cricket Council in 2000.
The Czech Cricket Union is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Czech Republic. Its current headquarters is in Prague. The Czech Cricket Union is the Czech Republic's representative at the International Cricket Council and is an affiliate member. It is also a member of the European Cricket Council.
Horse racing
Among the most famous horse races in the country are the Velká pardubická in Pardubice, as well as the Czech Triple Crown of flat racing, which takes place at Prague-Velká Chuchle Racecourse.
Speedway has been run a league since the mid-1950s. The main stadium of Markéta Stadium in Prague 6 today hosts a round of the World Championship Grand-Prix series and is the only ever present in the competition. Other major venues include the Svítkov Stadium, Slaný Speedway Stadium and Speedway Stadium Plzeň. The major league teams are Olympic Prague, Pardubice and Slaný.
Longtrack
Longtrack racing has always had a major following in the country. The home of longtrack is Mariánské Lázně which is about two hours west of Prague. It hosts both domestic and international meetings and had held many of the World Championship finals and Grand-Prix rounds.
Josef Rössler-Ořovský, who introduced a number of sports in the then Czechoslovakia, among others skiing and tennis, was originally credited with starting rugby union as well back in 1895.[14] He went to England and brought back a rugby ball with him. Efforts were made to play the game at the Czech Yacht Club, but a public struggle ensued, and rugby subsequently never really caught on.
Czechoslovakia was a founder member of FIRA in 1934, and joined the IRB in 1988.[15]
Currently, Brno in Moravia, and the capital Prague are considered to be the centres for Rugby Union in the country.
Rugby league in the Czech Republic was started in 2006. The Czechs received government funding before a game was played there, and in their first game on August 5, 2006, in Prague, the Czechs went down 34–28 to the Netherlands.
In 2007 the Czech Republic took part in the European Shield tournament. This included two other 2nd tier nations; Germany and Serbia. Czech national team lost both their matches, v Germany 22–44 in Prague (4 August) and v Serbia 16–56 in Belgrade (18 August), and finished third.
The Czech Republic has produced a number of successful competitors in various skiing disciplines in recent years. Šárka Záhrobská has been a successful alpine skier, specialising in the slalom. She has won four World Championship medals in the discipline: a gold in 2007, a silver in 2009 and bronzes in 2005 and 2015. She also won a bronze in the slalom at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Eden Arena is the largest modern football stadium in the Czech Republic
Football
Eden Arena – Located in Prague's Vršovice district, Synot Tip Arena has a seated capacity of 20,800. It is the home stadium of football team SK Slavia Prague and was opened in 2008.
O2 Arena – Located in the Libeň district of Prague, the O2 Arena is the largest Czech multi-functional hall. Its capacity is 18,000 seats. HC Sparta Praha play their games there.
Tipsport arena – former home to Sparta Praha, has a seated capacity of 13,150 and was opened in 1962.
Tennis
Tennis area Štvanice – The compound located on Štvanice island in Prague has 14 outdoor courts and 10 indoor courts. Its centre court has a capacity of 8,000 and hosts ATP and WTA tournaments on an annual basis.
Among the most attractive events for Czech fans are the Ice hockey Olympics, especially against traditional rivals like Russia, Finland, Sweden, Canada, USA and Slovakia. The greatest achievements include gold medals at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games.
Youth sport
In 2014, just under 340,000 youths were registered with the Czech Union of Sport, representing a fall of more than a third since 1989's Velvet Revolution.[20]
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