The President of the Water Polo and Swimming Federation of Montenegro, Nikola Milić, and the President of the Assembly of the VPSCG, Dejan Rađenović, met with the President of the Olympic Committee, Dušan Simonović, with whom they discussed future cooperation until the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
As stated in the statement by the VPSCG, it was jointly concluded that good cooperation between the two organizations is crucial in supporting athletes in the qualification process and preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games.
The Federation emphasizes that full support has been given to the MOC initiative to urgently form a Sports Development Fund and find a sustainable model for financing sports, in order to ensure long-term support for the development of all sports in Montenegro.
Milić also emphasized at the meeting that the VPSCG wants to launch an initiative to have water polo recognized as our national sport.
"I believe that water polo deserves to be recognized as a national sport, after all the successes that our selections, both senior and junior, have achieved since 2006. I would like to remind you that our senior team has won five medals at major competitions - European and world championships, three gold medals in the World League, as well as the fact that our national team is the only one to have won five consecutive appearances at the Olympic Games. The junior selections have brought home 11 medals from world and European championships in the past period," said Milić and added:
"We also believe that the new Law on Sports, which is currently being drafted, should include the category of "national sport", define the criteria that need to be met for a sport to receive that title, but also leave the possibility of losing such status if it is not worked hard enough and well, and if there are no significant results at the largest competitions. In any case, that category would recognize which sport best represents Montenegro, as a small country with a small base, and water polo has, without a doubt, been doing that for years," Milić pointed out.
The first man of the VPSCG concluded:
"I think that the possibility of gaining the status of a national sport should be the goal and aspiration of all our national federations, to be a motivation for them to do their best in order to achieve results at the biggest competitions at that level," Milić concluded.
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