Former water slalom skier Zbyněk Pulec is going to court because of a reduced pension. Although he has support among athletes, from the Olympians Club, and the public defender of rights insists on his claim, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MLSV) sees the situation differently.
Zbyněk Tadpole.
| Photo: Courtesy of Zbyňek Pulce
The newspaper drew attention to the case of a water slalom skier, who competed at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and is in dispute with the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ) over an incorrectly calculated retirement pension, on February 24 this year.
The case has now progressed. A lawsuit has already been filed against the CSSA. “I would like to say that I see the award of the full amount of the pension as the achievement of justice, that’s why I am fighting for it,” said Pulec, a former representative and participant of the Munich 1972 Olympic Games.
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Seventy-five-year-old Zbyněk Pulec graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at the Charles University. After the end of his sports career, he was a professional coach, he also worked as a researcher at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, he got to know working-class professions, and after 1990 he ran a business in three areas.
Apparently they threw him in the bag with the eternal students
Still, the case keeps him awake. “After going through all the documentation again, I am convinced that the main cause of this situation is the failure of the legislators who created the ‘new’ law. I understand that the so-called eternal students who were prolonging their youth were supposed to be affected, but they must have known that there are cases when the application of this wording of the law can harm someone,” Pulec wondered.
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Today’s athletes are surprised by the case, to put it mildly. “I find it ridiculous that a man who represented this country is finally being punished for it. I believe that justice will be achieved,” the Olympic champion in water slalom wrote to Deník kayaker Jiří Prskavec.
Another medalist from Tokyo, Lukáš Rohan, has a similar opinion. “Mr. Pulec and I know each other. The whole situation seems quite bizarre to me. I’m sorry that they have to solve it through the courts, but I’m not a lawyer or an expert on pensions, so I can’t assess the real situation,” said canoeist Lukáš Rohan.
Olympians Club: We are little gentlemen
Athletes who represented the Czech Republic under the five rings are helped by the Olympians Club. But in this case, officials are said to be powerless. “If we find any leverage, we will use it, but our options in this direction are limited. We cannot influence it,” said Oldřich Svojanovský, chairman of the Club of Olympians.
“I don’t know why the problem fell on him. There were more athletes in a similar situation. We can support him morally, but someone who decides about it has to take care of it. Our club has no control over it. We’re little masters for that,” he shrugs. “If it was already discussed at the level of the ministry and the ombudsman, it should have been continued there.”
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The aforementioned public defender of rights also stands behind Zbyňek Pulec, but his voice was not heard at the Ministry of the Interior. “The ombudsman function does not replace state authorities. In our opinion, Mr. Pulec is entitled to the pension to the extent he requests. His merits and the extraordinary nature of the case should be taken into account,” ombudsman Stanislav Křeček told the editors.
“At the ministry, we supported Mr. Pulek in his complaint. But if they perceive it differently there, we can hardly do more in this matter. It is not in our power to change the decision. It happens that our request is not granted,” he added.
The ministry stands by itself
“The authorities in this case proceeded strictly according to the law. And that applies to everyone. The legislation does not allow the study to be counted over the legal limit, nor does it allow the study to be evaluated as a period of employment. Already in 2011, a request to remove the harshness of the law in the case of the person in question was rejected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as the evaluation of the period of study after the age of eighteen was carried out in full accordance with the law. Minister Jurečka gave him a similar decision last year after repeated requests.”
Eva Davidová, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
