Gyomber started playing football with local team MFK Revúca before moving in 2006 to the youth team of FK Dukla Banská Bystrica a club that plays in Slovakia’s top flight Norbert made his professional debut for Banská Bystrica in a league match against MFK Ružomberok on October 1 Despite only playing in 18 league matches that season fans voted Norbert the club’s 2011-2012 Player of the Season the league named Gyomber the Young Player of the Year for the 2011-2012 campaign Calcio Catania acquired Norbert during the January transfer window He finished the season with Banská Bystrica before moving to the Italian club in July of 2013 Norbert started 15 games in his first season with Catania but last season an ankle injury sidelined him for much of the year Norbert has represented his country at U19 and U21 levels playing all 90 minutes in Slovakia’s impressive win over Spain last October Norbert will become the first Slovakian player to play for the Giallorossi Norbert is a right-footed defender who has played center-back for much of his club career but has shown his versatility by playing both left-back and defensive midfield during Euro 2016 qualifiers with the Slovakian national team making him one of the tallest players in the Roma squad – although not quite as tall as Edin Džeko I confirm that I have read the privacy policy – EU VAT IT09305501000 - all rights reserved logos and artwork are registered or unregistered trademarks of Soccer S.r.l All other trademarks may be the property of their respective holders Biathlete Ema Kapustová has been making waves in Revúca the Biathlon mainly survives thanks to the enthusiasm of two siblings Dušan Chrapán and Milan Chrapán have been involved in the sport for decades "It required a certain amount of fanaticism which the town club has in spades," says 72-year-old Milan Several successful representatives have been raised in the Revúca club; fans of the Slovak biathlon are currently taking pleasure in the successes of the talented Ema Kapustová Markus Sklenárik won a bronze medal at the January Winter Youth Olympic Games Milan is the older of the two siblings and has dedicated his whole life to the biathlon "Specifically since 1974," he notes got into sports after completing his compulsory military service "We started training and chasing each other in the woods we mostly focused on the summer biathlon," said Dušan who became the Slovak summer and winter biathlon champion several times "My brother and I formed a coaching duo in 1980 a rarity by the standards of the Slovak biathlon Usually there is only one person who takes care of everything," adds Milan Both brothers were there when the Revúca club emerged in 1991 and started training the youth "We were lucky to find good people and that a very good organisational staff formed There was always someone who improved something and we worked our way up to the level of the national team Our effort was to raise someone who would go all the way to the Olympics My niece Martina Chrapánová managed to do it; she represented Slovakia in Sochi 2014 [Winter Olympics - Ed managing the club is financially demanding "There is not much money to be made in this valley," says Dušan The town lies in a valley surrounded by the Muráňska Planina plateau and the mountain ranges of Stolické Vrchy and Revúcka Vrchovina The club receives some money from the Slovak Biathlon Union (SBZ) "Our club is unable to cover the financial burden of training athletes A biathlete needs between 12,000 to 15,000 cartridges a year it's very difficult," adds Milan Travelling to areas with snow means more expenses The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.skSubscribe now for full access Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail) PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk The underground rapid transit lines have been under construction for almost two decades due to various project delays The cross pinnacle on the Tower of Jesus Christ will be ready to receive visitors in 2026 on the centennial of Gaudi’s death Now you can get your wine in Talence by paying directly in Bitcoin That’s because the state has to spend money on updating the railway infrastructure rather than subsidizing the cost of the popular pass Steffen Romstöck said that he would respect the residents’ choice and would take over the helm of the municipality which will come into force from 1 January 2025 Rethinking renewable energy sources for the urban landscape But operating them is still illegal under the country’s legislation can inform and inspire communities and entrepreneurs that still feel trepidation at the prospect of energy transition it has a unique modular design that allows it to be shortened and lengthened like a train that’s the promise made by the mayor of Paris the district has long been known as the hangout spot for the artsy crowds Hostal de Pinós is located in the geographical centre of the autonomous region the ranking considers several distinct but essential factors these quiet areas will now be available on all main routes in the country The academic institution shows a deeper understanding of the well-being of its students Mayor of Revúca is Július Buchta. He was born on 28 December 1973 in Revúca After finishing primary and secondary school he served in the military he returned to Slovakia and started to work as a technician for two years in a military company In 2001 he started his career at a local mining company SMZ Jelšava In 2002 Buchta was promoted as technician He graduated as a technical engineer in chemistry and refractory materials in 2007 In the same year he was promoted to Head of the research and development department Buchta started his political career as a local patriot involved in few small local projects as volunteer In 2017 he was elected as member to a district parliament of Banská Bystrica region In 2018 Buchta was elected Mayor of Revúca Besides these two main jobs he is also involved in board of local tourism unit active in local group for regional projects and Head of local association RZMOS - SG covering 39 villages and three cities All work planned at Muráň Castle is expected to be completed by mid-autumn The only building at Muráň Castle in the Revúca district that currently has a roof is the tower of the entrance gate that will change as the Commander's House is set for a makeover as part of restoration work planned at the site this year "We started work on the castle practically as soon as we received the notification that the project was approved as part of the new People and Castles program," Muráň Mayor Roman Goldschmidt said Two weeks after parliamentary elections I went to Revúca to test some of the hypotheses explaining the election results I wonder how many of the 17 percent of locals who voted for the party of the regional governor Marian Kotleba have noticed that the roads administered by the regional government have not improved at all My colleague turns to a big map of Slovakia right behind his desk and asks where Revúca is Somewhere in Central Slovakia…the finger moves from Banská Bystrica towards East and then slightly down…and here it is the capital of one of Slovakia’s poorest regions despite being located in a beautiful environment nearby the Muránska planina National Park a few caves including one enlisted on UNESCO World Heritage List and a handful of castles Two weeks after parliamentary elections I took my backpack and went to Revúca to test “on the field” some of the hypotheses launched by talking heads on TV screens to explain the elections’ results – displeased citizens gave their protest votes to extreme and “non-standard” political entities After slightly under six hours spent on a bus travelling from Bratislava I reached Revúca on a Friday afternoon The first sight: a nicely reconstructed central square with historical buildings competing for attention with the metal cubicle of a discount supermarket But locals clearly have a sense of humor – just across the street from the bus station a pharmacy called “Cannabis” seems eager to offer some relief to visitors feeling dizzy after travelling on the bumpy narrow roads leading to town near Brezno there are billboards in which his party thanks voters for support and promises not to disappoint them Planning to go to a local community center in Revúca I asked two young people for directions Smartly dressed and standing next to a collection of religious leaflets they quickly asked me what I am looking for on that particular street because “Roma live there There are only blocks of flats full of Roma there” Jesus Christ’s warm eyes staring at us from the cover of one of the booklets almost muttered “love thy neighbour” And off I went to meet them with my experience of covering such topics whispering at the back of my head – here we go again the far right comes to a poor region with a significant Roma community usually long-term unemployed and living on benefits and promises to install what they call law and order struggling with low-paid jobs or on benefits too clap their hands ignoring the fact that the source of all their sorrows I have already seen it many times but what I have never seen in Slovakia is ordinary people taking to the streets to show some solidarity with their fellow Roma when they are targeted Usually only a handful of NGOs and activists issue some statements They have been warning for years about the rise of the extremist movements banking on the so-called “Roma card” And it does not matter if someone lives in Revúca or ran away to richer Bratislava and prefers not to look back I found the community centre closed for the day but around it there were plenty of people eager to tell me their stories; from Dana who must work as a caretaker in Austria to Erik and Mário who although disappointed by Slovak politicians felt compassion for refugees at the Macedonian border “who fled war and live like animals now in the mud” I spoke to local butcher Emil who has no problems with his Roma clients and to a lady owning a glazier shop who despite trying to avoid “getting angry with politicians at 4pm on Friday” delivered a solid analysis of investment opportunities in the region off the record because she seemed to associate the microphone with politicians who made her angry.I met the young owner of a guesthouse who kept on asking why do I think Revúca deserved special attention when there are many towns like that in Slovakia And I was followed around by a young football tennis player who was sure that as a journalist I can persuade Ronaldo to come to Revúca to see him play This is what heaven looks like for any Bratislava-based journalist still interested in talking to ordinary people but who is more often than not told off when trying to do so on the streets of the capital If that journalist is a foreigner then the openness and curiosity of locals is a sweet bonus In 15 minutes in Revúca I have received more questions about my own country than in three months in Bratislava and I know from experience that the level of knowledge on this topic in the Slovak capital is not high even among educated people The day ended with some specialty of the local cuisine which despite a provocative name Gemerské guľky sdynamitom (Gemer style balls with dynamite) proved peacefully tasty Then another kind of cultural shock for the Bratislava-based journalist – the cook improvised some salad for me on the spot I guess he did not know that in Bratislava the rule is to angrily flip through the menu pages to show to the daring customer that the restaurant has only three standard types of salad from which only the cabbage one is in fact available as the kitchen ran out of other types of vegetables This is how a simple salad had suddenly got a special taste was almost as expensive as in the rich and far-way Bratislava maybe as a tribute to the many locals who work north of the Morava River and whose remittances support life back home You can listen to the report from Revúca broadcast by Radio Slovakia International here Anca Dragu is a journalist with Radio Slovakia International, which is available in Bratislava in English on 98.9 FM at 6:30pm and 8:30pm and at www.rsi.sk. The opinions expressed in this blog are her own Andrej Danko was born in 1974 in the central Slovak town of Revúca He graduated from the law school of the Comenius University in Bratislava After graduation he went on to work as a lawyer Danko has been active in politics since 2006 when he started as MP assistant In 2010-2012 he served as the first deputy chair of the Slovak National Party (SNS) under Ján Slota He ran from the top post of his party’s slate in the March 5 election in which his party made it back to the parliament