Arrest

In 1948, Szűcs met singer Erzsi Kovács and began an affair with her. Kovács was married to pianist Lajos Boros and the state frowned upon the adulterous relationship, especially after Kovács moved in with the player. He was not called up to the national team and was told that he risked losing his football career over the affair.^[3] Szűcs had received word of an offer from A.C. Milan through a contact and the pair considered escaping from Hungary.^[4]

However, the ongoing recruiting efforts of eastern bloc players by those that had already escaped resulted in the authorities stepping up their watch on football players. In 1949, fellow Hungarian player László Kubala defected to the west and formed a team called Hungaria, which was made up of Eastern European émigrés, including Hungarians.^[5] The team played friendlies against major clubs, which paid them well.^[2]

The couple found someone that would help them reach the west in exchange for a half pound of gold plus $5,000, if successful.^[4] On 6 March 1951, they left with their handler. Near Szombathely, they were stopped by a patrol, but made it through by showing their identification. Some distance later, the smuggler asked Szűcs to give him his gun. A few minutes later, soldiers from the ÁVO placed both of them in custody. It turned out that the smuggler was an ÁVO agent and that the entire escape had been a trap.^[2]

Once arrested, an added complication for Szűcs was that he played for Ujpest, now named Budapesti Dózsa, which was controlled by the police.^[2] As a player for the team, he was a commissioned lieutenant in the police and was carrying his service weapon during the attempt. This made him subject to an anti-defection law that called for life imprisonment or the death penalty for members of any armed service caught defecting.^[3] He and Kovács were held for months before trial. Szűcs was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. His former teammates Ferenc Puskás and József Bozsik attempted to intervene on his behalf without success.^[4] On 4 June 1951, Szűcs was executed.^[3]

Aftermath

The trial was held in secret and, officially, nobody knew about the execution until the political changes in the country in 1989. Additionally, the location of his grave was strictly confidential. After the communist regime's fall, Szűcs' story was widely published. In 1989 the death sentence was revoked and declared a violation of the law. In 1991, he was posthumously named a police lieutenant-colonel.^[1][4] Since 1993, an elementary school was named after him in Újpest, while a football tournament for youth players of the district is held every year. The stand of Újpest FC's Ferenc Szusza Stadium where home team supporters sit has been named after him. A documentary movie was filmed on his story in 2005.