Answer to the Ministry of Sports and Youth: Discretionary right is not given to other people's money

Regarding the reaction of the Ministry of Sports and Youth on the portal "Vijesti" - "Ministry of Sports and Youth: We were guided by the tradition of clubs, equal regional representation...", to the text published in the same section of the portal - "Minister Šćekić distributed 170.000 euros to 12 clubs, without a competition and clear result criteria", journalist Slaviša Živaljević will explain and present to the public data that the relevant Ministry denies.

The "Vijesti" sports editorial office received two notifications about the co-financing of 12 clubs by e-mail from the aforementioned Ministry. We informed the public about the content.

"During the distribution of funds, care was taken to support renowned sports clubs with tradition, within which care was taken to ensure equal representation, gender equality, as well as public interest in the field of sports. Also, care was taken to support sports clubs for the development of young talents in order to popularize playing sports among young people," the Ministry's announcement concludes.

Article 118 of the Law on Sports is subsequently cited in the denial - it reads:

"With the exception of Articles 116 and 117 of this law, the Administration can, with the prior consent of the Government, co-finance sports clubs that perform sports activities in the type of sport that is in the​​ I​​ category of sports that are on the program of the Olympic Games, provided that maximum two clubs of the same type of sport can be co-financed".

The journalist's answer: None of the criteria, traditions, and the Law were violated by the mentioned distribution, or it was partially fulfilled.

The fact that one of the two football clubs that were selected for financing - FK Gorštak, does not have a single member in any of the eight national football selections, and that the senior team does not compete at all in the third, lowest tier (Association of Clubs FSCG - Center) best illustrates current reputation of the club.

The tradition of that is incomparable, with the oldest Montenegrin sports club - Football Club Lovćen, or the pride of the North, FK Rudar, which, regardless of modest budgets, have still maintained and have a work system that qualifies their members for national teams. The club from Dusseldorf - Fortuna (luck) also has them.

Therefore, the public needs to believe that the system of working in a club without any results, at least since 2006, which does not even have a senior team, will suddenly find a magic wand or catch a goldfish to fulfill the wishes of results. It is true that Kolašin has the best competitors in the sports discipline of fly fishing in Montenegro, but there is no information on the websites of their clubs and selection that they managed to catch a goldfish in Tara. Fortune may be on the minister's side!

As for the selection of AK Rudar on the list of "privileged" - even the most zealous chroniclers, with all due respect, do not remember any significant result, no norm at any age for European, world championships or OI.

Let's move on to the legal framework: Article 118 makes it possible to co-finance two clubs of the same sport, and this year the Ministry did it for at least three. On Friday, the contracts were signed by KK Sutjeska and ŽKK Primorje with Minister Dragoslav Šćekić, but the minister forgets that at the electronic meeting of the Government, 19.04. In 2024, by misinterpreting Article 120 of the Law on Sports, he co-financed KK Budućnost Voli with 200.000 euros for participation in the Eurocup.

We remind the public that this was only possible on the condition that the Podgorica club qualified for the final four of the Eurocup, but Budućnost Voli was eliminated in the group stage, in seventh place in group B, just below the line that leads to the continuation of the competition.

In addition, according to Article 41, the Ministry should have consulted the national associations about the decision on co-financing, put to the public, the citizens of Montenegro - the owners of the allocated money, an explanation of the decisions on the selection of "privileged" clubs. The decision had to be accompanied by an explanation - why exactly those 12 clubs?!

The Government should now cancel the decisions on the allocation of 370.000 euros of taxpayers' money, otherwise it is up to the Prosecutor's Office to give an answer - did the responsible Minister avoid or fail to inform the Government of the facts?

In its denial, the Ministry emphasizes - "that the same procedure for awarding support to sports clubs from the I category of sports that are on the Olympic Games program was applied in previous years, starting from 2019".

It is commendable that the 44th Government found it necessary to inform the public, but the fact that since the introduction of such a practice - without clear criteria, the results in Montenegrin Olympic sports are significantly worse, both at the European Games and in the number and performance of our athletes at the Olympic Games games.