He came to Sparta with the label of a great Slovak talent. In its jersey, Peter Babnič scored in the Champions League, but he experienced a real football breakthrough only later in Olomouc. But his life was already ruined because of his addiction to slot machines. He spoke openly about it in an interview for Aktuálně.cz. Today he is 47 years old, lives in Vienna and works for the McDonald’s chain.
When one looks back at your career, one finds that you celebrated the greatest successes at the beginning of it. With Inter Bratislava, it was a double in a row at the turn of the millennium, a successful home European Championship in 2000 with Slovakia’s twenty-first team. Do you agree?
Certainly. Those were wonderful times, to which I would add another four nice years in Sigma Olomouc. We had an excellent team there. I’m sorry that I didn’t really establish myself in Sparta, where I came as a replacement for Tomáš Rosický. But I probably couldn’t handle the pressure and great competition in the team at a younger age. However, I have no regrets, it was a great experience.
You went to Sparta in 2001, but in three seasons you didn’t play much. Did it slow you down?
Coach Ivan Hašek wanted me, but then he left for Strasbourg and Jaroslav Hřebík took over Sparta. He didn’t give me that many chances, even though I thought I deserved them. I did my best, but there were maybe seven or eight attackers. I had several offers, I chose Sparta because of the Champions League.
And in the famous competition you scored on the field of Spartak Moscow.
One goal is not enough, but I enjoyed the moment. I especially enjoyed the time when the whole team was doing well. I was a team player and that I should be upset because I don’t play? No way. But the interesting thing was that I was always the best scorer in training, but it didn’t work so well in the league. I was young, I probably didn’t perform consistently.
You already mentioned the later departure in Olomouc. Where did it fit you best?
First, I went on a six-month loan to Zlín, where coach Vlastislav Mareček wanted me very much. I started riding regularly, it gave me confidence and my performance increased. An offer came from Sigma, I preferred it over Slavia and Mlada Boleslaví. In Olomouc, we played in the foreground every year, breathing on the backs of the favorites. We played European Cups. It was my best football period, between the ages of 25 and 28 you already have experience, at the same time you still have a lot to give. I caught a life form.
But at the same time, your personal life was ruined because of your addiction to slot machines, right?
It started earlier, I tried to hide it from everyone, which was a big mistake. I decided to go to a specialist in Slovakia, and he advised me to tell my family and we solved it together. Unfortunately I didn’t, it took another two or three years. I realized it only when I returned to Slovakia after my engagement at Sigma, but it was already too late. The media knew it, the public knew it, I was a famous player and it couldn’t be saved.
After leaving Olomouc, you played in Slovakia, then in Poland, but your career declined.
I regret what happened to this day, it’s hard for me to deal with it, but I have to live on. My family helped me, I put it behind me in Ružomberok and tried to restart my career. But injuries also came, I was almost thirty. It wasn’t like before.
Gambling problems are not entirely unusual for footballers. How did you get started with vending machines?
I think it was because I got into money when I was young. I went to sit somewhere with my teammates at Inter or Sparta, some of them pointed me in the direction of the casino and I didn’t even really know what it was. I just fell into it, then it’s hard to get out. You lose more money and want it back immediately. You lose more and more, it’s a vicious cycle. Only professional help will help, at the club level it was not dealt with in any way at that time.
Do you regret that you did not listen and suffocated the problems in yourself?
I was on the tongue a hundred times to tell my family. The wife tried to solve it later, but it was already known. Even after I stopped, everyone could point the finger at me. I wasn’t one to play every day. It’s strange, but I had such blind spots. When I had two or three days of free time, I went to play for one day. Then it happened more often and unfortunately I couldn’t stop it.
Still, you managed to keep it a secret for quite some time. As?
I lost my own money, I had no debts anywhere. The family was always somewhat secure, my wife and I had a joint account. We could not withdraw the money without the other’s knowledge. I just always put something aside and lost it. It wasn’t millions, I wasn’t making as much as players today. But like I say, the hardest part was quitting. After the divorce I was left alone, there were problems again. I wasn’t thinking about going out to play, but rather that I wouldn’t have anything to eat.
How did you manage to find your way out?
I had to set my head differently and change something. I went to my parents, my new girlfriend also helped me. This is how I got out of it. Moreover, I already knew that my career was slowly ending, that there was no interest in me. I had to think about what to do next. If you’ve been playing football all your life, then it’s hard to fit into ordinary life. I had no experience to apply to.
How did you solve it? How are you living today?
I live in Vienna, I have been working here for thirteen years. Vienna was also the last soccer stop at a lower level, but I had to quit because of knee problems. I work at McDonald’s, I work as an operator for four branches. I am in charge of the delivery of goods and whatever the boss tells me is enough. I started in the kitchen as a normal worker and gradually worked my way up. I have some people under me, I go around four branches every day. I had to learn better German, but I enjoy it. The main thing is that I have a job. Financially and in terms of the overall standard of living, things are better here than in Slovakia.
So you don’t want to go home to Slovakia?
I come from Brezno, from central Slovakia. There is a shortage of work, many people are at the employment office. It’s good that I stayed in Austria after football, I’m happy here. Of course, I had no plans to stay in the McDonald’s kitchen. It was my first job abroad, I didn’t speak German very well. It was fine for the start, but I’m glad I got up.
Haven’t you tried training?
I wanted to stay with football even after my playing career, but I don’t know, it’s probably over now. I worked here as an assistant for young boys up to 13 and 14 years old. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but after the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of things have changed. I have one job, that’s enough for me. Moreover, it is time consuming, I am not so young and vital anymore. I enjoy football as a fan, in Vienna I sometimes go to Rapid or Austria. I also got tickets for yesterday’s match between the Austrian national team and Slovenia. When the football is good and I have time, I like to go.
And what do you say about current Slovak football? The national team left a great impression at the European Championship in the summer, Slovan Bratislava reached the Champions League for the first time in history.
There is and was a certain quality in Slovakia, we are able to bring up talented players like the Czechs. But if Slovak football somehow moved for the better? I don’t know, I don’t follow it that closely. However, the national team is playing good football under the Italian coach, they did a lot of work at the Euro. Almost all of them play abroad in good clubs, that was not the case in our time, most of them were from Slovan. I just need more goals, we haven’t had any quality strikers in recent years. We would be even stronger with him.
