Maroš Kolpak (born 23 March 1971) is a Slovak

handball goalkeeper The handball goalkeeper is the most defensive player of their team. Their main task is to prevent the other team from scoring a goal. Equipment To avoid confusion, a handball goalkeeper must wear a jersey that is different in colour to all the o ...

and coach. Kolpak played 71 national team games for

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. His legal actions in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

set a precedent for

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger a ...

in Europe, known as the

Kolpak ruling The ''Kolpak'' ruling is a European Court of Justice ruling handed down on 8 May 2003 in favour of Maroš Kolpak, a Slovak handball player. It declared that citizens of countries which have signed European Union Association Agreements have ...

, which have had a wide-ranging effect, especially in regards to English

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

and British professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

. Kolpak played for

HT Tatran Prešov HT Tatran Prešov is a handball club from Prešov, Slovakia, that plays in the Niké Handball Extraliga and EHF European League. History The official establishment of the club begins in 1952 under the name Slavia CSSA. In 1954, Tatran succes ...

, HC Dukla Praha and HK VSŽ Košice before moving to TSV Baden Östringen in the German 2nd Bundesliga in 1997. He played for the club and its successor SG Kronau/Östringen (now Rhein-Neckar Löwen) for ten seasons, though he missed most of the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons due to a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

. It was during this time that he was discharged from his club because of a quota for non-

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

players set in the league. In 2003 he presented his case to play against the Deutscher Handballbund ( German Handball Federation) to the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

, which ruled in his favour, thereby setting a precedent, now known as the

. Kolpak and Kronau/Östringen were promoted to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

in 2003 and 2005, with a highest Bundesliga placing of sixth in 2006, reached the final of the

DHB-Pokal The DHB-Pokal (English: German Handball Federation Cup) is an elimination handball tournament held annually in Germany. It is the second most important handball national title in the country after the Handball-Bundesliga championship. DHB-Pokal ...

in 2006 and 2007, and played in the last 16 of the

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

in 2007. In 2006 Kolpak was also elected as the best goalkeeper of the final four of the DHB-Pokal. As of 2023, Kolpak is working as goalkeeping coach at

References

* ''Löwengebrüll'', published 21 November 2007 * Handballwoche {{DEFAULTSORT:Kolpak, Maros Slovak male handball players Slovak expatriate handball players Living people 1971 births Sportspeople from Prešov Slovak handball coaches Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Germany Czechoslovak male handball players Expatriate handball players in Germany Slovak expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Rhein-Neckar Löwen players