RSCG left at the mercy of storms

When, in 2016, it won the organization of the 15th European Handball Championship, together with Slovenia and North Macedonia, the Montenegrin Handball Association was promised a new hall and a million euros by the then government in order to comply with the strict requirements of the EHF.

However, it remained only a "dead letter", because it was not even put on paper.

Two years after that - in 2018 - Buducnost Volija's basketball players won the ABA league, won placement in the Euroleague, and "Morača" had to be renovated again and again, in cooperation with the capital, because there was no time to build a new hall.

At that time, the championship of the Old Continent for women's handball was not even thought about, it was more than four years away and the only desire of the people from the management of the biggest basketball club in Montenegro, understandably, was to reach the necessary 5.000 seats.

The gallery was built, but numerous mistakes were made in the steps. The court was not expanded, so that there would be enough space for handball, i.e. that there should be a minimum of four meters from the lines to the stands everywhere, the space that could have served perfectly for the press center was turned into the offices of KK Budućnost, which ceded its space in Njegoševo Park to the Capital City.

Neither the new dressing rooms nor the rooms that are necessary according to EHF standards were built, so RSCG had to invest significant money to "make up" the hall for the EP. The small hall was temporarily made into a press center, the media conference room was turned into a warm-up room, and the mix and flash zone were set up in the warehouse rooms and the martial arts hall.

New corridors had to be opened, significantly stronger lighting, various platforms and walls were installed around the hall, and the only good thing is that in the meantime the "Bemax arena" was built, which houses the dressing rooms of the teams and officials.

The RSCG spent over 250.000 euros on the costs of repairing "Morača", and then it faced the worst nightmare - the roof, which was repaired in 2018, gave way again and the rain penetrated to the stands and seats for journalists.

The costs are huge, the question is how the Alliance will "survive", but the bigger question is why is it left at the mercy of storms? Both temporally and politically. The previous government did not fulfill its promises, the current one has done much more to delay it, so RSCG, the association with the most participation in major competitions since the restoration of independence, is the only one, along with the Basketball Association, without a state sponsor.

By the way, in the distribution of funds at the contest of the then Administration for Sports and Youth, he received significantly less money than in previous years.

And it was just waiting for a link in the chain to give way. Let's hope that it is only the roof, from which RSCG president Petar Kapisoda and his colleagues are cleaning with brooms to drive the water away, in order to at least temporarily close the holes with sandbags and allow the six matches of Group D to be held in peace.

If those bags also give way, it will be a big problem for Montenegro.

And it's not that there is no money, because a few days ago the government gave 900.000 euros for the private religious high school "Saint Sava"...