"European volleyball has a bright future, we have done a lot in six months and I hope we will do a lot more. I also believe that we will bring big competitions to your country, that your players will have the honor of playing big competitions in front of their audience," said Roko Sikirić, President of the European Volleyball Confederation, in an interview with the website of the Volleyball Federation of Montenegro.
Sikirić, a 43-year-old from Zadar, is the youngest president of a confederation in the history of European sports. The former Croatian volleyball player won the race for the CEV presidency last August at the congress in Naples, although he was up against representatives of the biggest volleyball countries in Europe - Pole Leżek Wencel and Italian Renato Arena.
A man who played volleyball in seven countries and on two continents, who graduated in global and sports management from Boston University, accepted the duty and set out to reform.
Volleyball has been, in fact, an unfair sport in recent years – towards medium and small volleyball countries, such as Montenegro. Sikirić and his administration want to change that, and they are already changing it…
"First of all, I feel very emotional after watching the Cup final matches. I have played in that hall several times with the Mladost team, so I am well acquainted with the atmosphere in Budva, which delighted me. I would like to congratulate all the participants, especially the winners, it was a pleasure to attend and in a way show my respect for the work of your Federation. I would also like to emphasize that representatives of the Government were present at both matches, which is a great thing for volleyball, and it was an honor for me to attend and celebrate this event," says Sikirić.
A small country, a small base, but at the same time a great potential – where does Montenegro fit into European volleyball and what can CEV do to further highlight that potential?
In this issue, in a way, Sikirić's mission and vision at the head of CEV come to a halt.
"I am the president of the 56 countries that are under the umbrella organization of the European Volleyball Confederation. Of course, there are large, medium and small federations. I would classify you as a medium federation. You are one of the youngest members of our organization, with a very impressive portfolio of championship organizations. We are now embarking on a complete reconstruction of European national competitions, starting with the younger ages, where the volleyball commission, in which you also have a member, Mr. Ivan Bošković, is working on projects of a new format that will provide medium and small federations with better competition conditions, following the strategy of development and growth of volleyball, both in the country and in Europe. Furthermore, we are focusing on the development of senior competitions. You are currently playing the Golden League for the first time, which sufficiently demonstrates your growth and progress, and you have qualifications for the European Championship in the same period. That is very difficult to follow for Federations like you, very large budgets are allocated for those two competitions, and commercially speaking – both from the CEV and the Federation side, they do not have great value. "That's why our new administration has decided to reconstruct these competitions in such a way that instead of the two being played this summer, they will have one in the future," says Sikirić.
The benefits will be visible from various aspects, he points out.
"First of all, we will have better quality performances and better competition, we will reduce the financial costs of the federations with better commercial visibility, both from the CEV side and yours as the Federation. All together, we will have growth. We are going into reconstruction with a detailed market analysis, this is a new approach of my administration. We are working on a structure and are not guided by politics, because our desire is to depoliticize sport and work in the interest of all participants in our organization," Sikirić points out.
So far it has been different and smaller and medium-sized national associations have been quite frustrated.
"I have visited 20 federations since I took office, because the only way you can change and improve something is to listen to the other side, not only the federations but also the clubs. We are on the ground, we talk, we know the problems, and the federations were frustrated - nothing changed for years, small federations were neglected, it was in the interests of the big ones. And that is why we have a situation where you have to play two competitions this summer in the men's and women's competition, and the costs are enormous. The big federations - let's take Poland or Italy for example, do not have so many costs, they are not so much in the process of competition and preparation, they have much less expenses, and they are much richer than you. That is why we entered the process of change. I had several important conversations with President Nikola Kažić, I know what your strategy is and you will have the full support of the CEV, we will give you all the tools to successfully implement your projects," added Sikirić.
Montenegrin clubs, both men's and women's, will participate in the regional MEVZA league starting next season, which is another project that CEV has recognized and enabled for our Federation and our volleyball.
"The participation of Montenegrin clubs in the regional Central European zone is a great platform for young players and clubs to show themselves in the European world and have the growth that all young players of their age should have. In a conversation with Nikola, he pointed out to me the importance of your clubs' participation in the MEVZA league, and it was my job to enable that platform. As a former player and sports director, watching your Cup final matches, I saw great potential. With the good work that your team has with the president, with the strategy that we have somehow implemented and are implementing together, you have a great future ahead of you. And it is very important that you have the support, not only of the CEV but also of the Government, as I saw at the matches and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for showing their love for sport."
One of the projects is the Solidarity Fund, modeled after FIFA and UEFA, where all federations will soon be able to apply.
Federations will be able to apply for various infrastructure projects, for projects in financing coaches, labor, and goods such as courts, nets, and balls.
Sikirić emphasizes that the Volleyball Federation of Montenegro was ahead of the CEV in some areas.
"You have mini volleyball, where 80-90 teams participate, over a thousand children are involved. As CEV, we also have a project with schools, you actually started before us. That project is not only about expanding the volleyball base, but also about getting as many young people involved in the sport, forming them as individuals, and supporting children's health. Volleyball is a global sport, a great expansion is expected, Europe is the leader here and I have a great responsibility and great pleasure. We will continue to develop European and world volleyball."
We will brand the Champions League
Perhaps the most important project of Sikirić's administration is the branding of the biggest competition - the Champions League.
"I had opponents from Italy and Poland, Turkey supported the Italian candidate, and all of them are major volleyball nations that invest a lot in volleyball and have organized major competitions. My first visits after the election were to those countries. I wanted to create a homogeneous body and institutions, to ensure the Champions League Final Four in countries that will have not only their own participants, but also in countries that are ready to support and pay a certain investment towards the CEV in order to win these competitions. I think we succeeded, the women's Final Four will be played in Istanbul, the men's in Poland, in Lodz. I think that is a great goal that we have achieved."
"In parallel, we worked on the implementation of sponsorship contracts, we have achieved a very large contract that we have yet to disclose. The fact is that for years we have not had a sponsor in the Champions League - we found ourselves in a situation from scratch. We are working with a company that cooperates closely with UEFA and that has worked on all formats, all competitions for UEFA - from youth categories, to senior national and club ones. They want to cooperate with us and that will help us a lot. Because the development of the Champions League is not just the development of the format - we are taking a holistic approach. The commercial part, the marketing part, digital communications - the complete branding of the product that we want to market," emphasizes Roko Sikirić.
My degree is an investment in myself, it allowed me to gain a broader picture.
Roko Sikirić wore the Croatian national team jersey 89 times, played for various clubs in various countries, and in addition to playing volleyball at the top level, he managed to complete a degree in global and sports management at Boston University.
A diploma that, as he says, means a lot to him.
"Throughout my entire career, I tried to study in parallel, because I know that an athlete's career is short, practically from one day to the next, you don't know what injury you might have on the court. I have to admit that I had a lot of failures - I changed four faculties until I finally managed to separate the time with my obligations to the clubs. At the age of 30, I enrolled in my first faculty - sports management and continued on, completing everything at Boston University. That degree means a lot to me, because it offers me the opportunity to see the broader picture that I need, in addition to the volleyball knowledge that I gained as a player, and later as a sports director."
His example could be an example for young volleyball players, and athletes in general.
"My degree is an investment in myself. No one can take that away from us. Young players often try to become coaches, which I respect very much. My journey from player to sports worker, director, to working at CEV, to one of the leading positions in European sport did not happen overnight, it took a lot of investment and sacrifice. But let it be a sign to the players who played in the Cup final in Budva, who were honored to have me present them with the trophy, because just as I succeeded - so can they. Maybe not exactly in this position, because it is the only one, there are no more of them, but in various other spheres, to base themselves on some other positions that will help both themselves and sport in general."
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