Lalošević: There must be money for athletes

Athletes are Montenegro's treasure, its best ambassadors, and there must be money for them, said Minister of Sports and Youth Vasilije Lalošević, stating that he expects that allocations for sports in the next budget will be even higher.

In an interview with the MINA agency, he said that the priorities in the first year of his mandate are the drafting of the Development Strategy and the Law on Sports, the establishment of the Institute for Sports Medicine and the invention of new models of financing sports.

Lalošević pointed out that the Sports Development Strategy and the new Law on Sports are two extremely important documents.

"The sports development strategy is a plan for every type of activity, i.e. the implementation of the planned. It is an introduction to the Law on Sports, everything stems from it. In the Strategy, school, student and children's sports will be significantly better positioned and will be given a new role. Montenegrin Olympic Committee (COK ) and national sports federations will become what they should be and will have their autonomy. The solution for the new Sports Law will be derived from the Strategy," said Lalošević.

He announced that the Ministry will make an effort to complete the Strategy by the end of the year, while the new Law on Sports should be completed by the end of this year or in the first quarter of next year.

Speaking about the allocation for sports from the Budget, Lalošević said that the Ministry of Sports and Youth, when funds for regular activities and part of the youth segment are taken away, has 3,6 million euros to finance the COK, the Paralympic Committee and national associations.

"It is a smaller amount than the period when I was the director of the Sports Administration. We will try to fix it. We managed to provide assistance to some federations, which were left without funds. At the end of June or the beginning of July, talk will begin about a real rebalancing, not a technical one. like now, so we will have the opportunity to help someone else. The basketball players received an invitation to the European Championship and we must do everything to enable them to have all the conditions", said Lalošević.

He reiterated that there must be funds for sports, but also control over the spending of money received by national federations.

"When conceiving the next budget, we will try to make the percentage of allocation for sports higher. We will try to strengthen some segments that we saw did not exist in the right way. To strengthen funds for sports small infrastructure, for Sports for all and Sports for youth. Let's make a realistic cross-section, and maybe even raise the bar," said Lalošević.

He emphasized that the crucial issue of sports development is the financing of that social area.

"We have to find a model, whether it will be a fixed percentage of the total budget, coordination with local governments, or in some sports a private-public partnership. The bottom line is that the state must define it through a percentage, or tax breaks for everyone who wants to invest in sports. The idea, which I will try to implement by the end of the year, is to amend the Law on Games of Chance and to allocate part of that money to sports. There are 4-5 models that could be included in the new strategy and thus help finance of sports", said Lalošević.

Speaking about the plans for this year, Lalošević said that one of the priorities is the establishment of the Institute for Sports Medicine.

"We received all kinds of support, and knowing the team I work with and my persistence, we will realize this idea. The location is the least important, but Podgorica has all the prerequisites for that. We will collect the experiences of institutes in the countries of the region, we have a complete program and we will appoint people who will deal with the entire process of the organization. This is necessary for us and we will try to establish it," said Lalošević.

According to him, the institute's goal will be to provide a thorough examination of athletes before a competition.

"We must not allow athletes to not have adequate health care, to go from one health center to another. To remain without an examination and risk their lives", said Lalošević.

Speaking about the problem with anti-doping, he said that it is a thing of the past and that the formation of the Council created conditions for the work of the Anti-Doping Commission in full capacity.

"The Council of the Anti-Doping Commission was formed, whose members are the eminent doctors Aleksandar Kujović and Aleksandar Radović and the famous handball player Jovanka Radičević. The next action is the writing of the Statute, which is sent to the World Anti-Doping Agency for review. Upon receiving the approval, the Commission begins to exist and announces a competition for the selection of directors. The Ministry allocated EUR 150 for its needs, for the entire regulation, future premises and employees. All assumptions are being made for it to start working", said Lalošević.

Lalošević denied that there is a crisis of results in Montenegrin sports, stating that it is the result of a change of generations.

According to him, the results of the younger categories are a guarantee of a bright future for Montenegrin sports.

He announced the possibility of revising the decision to ban the participation of politicians in the management structures of clubs and national sports federations in the Law.

Speaking about Montenegrin sports, he said that it is a phenomenon to achieve such results from such a small base and with so little space.

"It is a phenomenal success. The basis of everything is quality work with young people", said Lalošević.

He said that one of the priorities of the ministry headed by the care of athletes is to define the status of a top athlete and that the state reacts adequately.

"We will try to give back to each athlete what he gave to his country. We will also help young scholarship recipients, through the status of a promising athlete, to realize their dreams," said Lalošević.

He announced that the Ministry of Sports will do everything and contribute to the construction and adaptation of the sports infrastructure.