Education and Sport Minister Igor Lukšič told the press that Ljubljana will have to give back the money because of irregularities in its bid, and not because the call would be rigged, a view also supported by the Supreme Court.

In a reference to accusations by the opposition Democrats (SDS) and the National Party (SNS), which tried to oust him last September by claiming that the call had been rigged in favour of Stožice, Lukšič said that this was a message to the SDS and others to stop spreading untruths.

The debate around the Stozice complex did however not go unnoticed by the European Commission, which urged the Government Office for Local Government and Regional Policy to review the case last autumn.

The Supreme Court backed last month the Administrative Court, which has ruled in April against Koper's appeal for a revision of the public call.

The SDS argued in a press release today that Luksic negated himself by saying that the Supreme court rejected Koper's appeal on one hand and stressing that irregularities were found in the documentation on the other, adding that his statements today showed it had been perfectly justified to try and oust him last year.

Luksic meanwhile also said that his ministry would secure EU funds for the project, but instead of EUR 8.1m it would only apply for EUR 6.5m, contributing the rest itself.

While the Ministry of Education and Sport found no irregularities in Ljubljana's operations, a mistake was made as Ljubljana tried to secure some funds for which it already filed a claim with the bankrupt construction giant SCT, Aljus Pertinac of the ministry said.

Luksic added that most legal experts believed it a case of double financing, while "everybody knows that they will not see the money".

On the other hand, Ljubljana, not wanting to return the funds, filed a lawsuit, while the Supreme Court already denied its motion to suspend the payment until the end of the trial.

Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic denied that mistakes were made in Ljubljana's bid for the funds. He said it was Ljubljana that pointed out the irregularities to the ministry because they were illogical.

He said that Ljubljana filed its claim with the SCT, which failed to perform the job, but meanwhile paid the money to Grep, the company that oversaw the project.

Pertinac added that the ministry had filed for the execution of the transfer with the Customs Administration, which he expects will be done shortly.

The repaid money will be used for other sports projects, Luksic said, pointing to Slovenia's organisation of the 2013 European basketball championship as the ministry's priority at the moment.