UNMIK/PR/1675 - UNMIK Countdown #22
PRISTINA – In early 2000, UNMIK helped create the Department of Sports (DoS) in Kosovo. Only one year later, in 2001, a brand new Ministry was established to deal with Culture, Youth, Sports and Non-Resident Affairs (MCYS). One of the immediate objectives of the Ministry was to promulgate a comprehensive law to regulate sports across Kosovo, which was achieved in 2004-2005.
Over the years, UNMIK has been liaising between international and local sport federations in order to develop and improve relations for Kosovo sport entities and to assist local sports bodies in their preparation for the post status situation. The creation of several committees in the Kosovo Olympic Association, to bolster the promotion of Olympic values and education through sports, is another area of capacity building where UNMIK has achieved much progress.
Serious efforts were made by MCYS to bring the Kosovo Serb minority clubs into the leagues, which are organised by the largely Kosovo Albanian-dominated sports federations. As a result, more than 30 minority sports clubs are currently registered in various Kosovo sports federations, seven of which are of mixed ethnicities who compete in the league on an equal footing with the Albanian-dominated clubs. The Kosovo Serb Basketball club “Bambi” gained entry into the Kosovo Super League and competed with top Albanian clubs in the 2006-2007 season. Its Kosovo Serb Manager is also the Vice President of the Basketball Federation of Kosovo. A Kosovo Serb Volleyball club from Lipjan is a member of the Volleyball league.
UNMIK supported initiatives intended to promote integration through sports. Two recent examples are the Football Club Barcelona providing coaches at their own cost and the city of Frankfurt funding the lighting of Pristina Stadium.
At the international “Sport and Peace” Conference in Moscow in 2005, UNMIK presented a keynote speech on how sports impacted post-conflict Kosovo.
In 2005, the UN International Year of Sport and Physical Education (IYSPE 2005) was promoted throughout Kosovo. UNMIK attended in April 2006 a special event at UNHQ for the presentation of the IYSPE 2005-report to the Secretary-General. On this occasion UNMIK shared its lessons learned with the UNNY Office of Sport for Development and Peace and with the UNDP Bureau for Resources and Strategic Partnerships.
