The story of sports in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the thorny path that athletes go through in the fight for finances can be an eternal inspiration that can also be translated into a film. The latest such example is the talented teenager from Mostar, Lana Pudar.
Sports and athletes have made the citizens of this country happy so many times and are one of the few true examples that bring joy to people’s homes. Every sporting success, especially individual success in BiH, is a special story of sacrifice, struggle with bureaucracy, bad conditions and minimal state investment.
All the state needs to do is create the conditions. Build or equip gyms, swimming pools, arenas and provide decent budgets to cover the travel expenses of our athletes. However, complex politics, a complex state structure have also complicated sports in this country. So that each sport has its own obastacles that most clubs and athletes have a hard time jumping over.
That’s why individual successes like that of Lana Pudar become even greater.
Politics in BiH mainly deals with itself, and that is why for years, despite numerous initiatives, there is no law on sports or a systemic approach in relation to national teams. Hardly a year goes by without a state team reporting that they don’t have the money to travel to the competition.
The latest examples are the men’s and women’s basketball teams, whose participation in the European and World Championships was questionable. Only when the problem is brought to the surface do certain levels appear and money is allocated from the current reserves. BiH has reached such a position that the national teams are often financed by the Canton of Sarajevo or allocates most of the money for representative performances.
One of the biggest successes of BiH representative sport, the success of the cadet basketball team in 2015, when they became champions of Europe, hung in the balance. But not because of the game of our basketball players, but because of the lack of money, when businessmen paid money for the performance of our athletes at the last minute.
Even after that, nothing changed. Politics in this country sees sports only in the last moment.
At the state level, the same policy that blocks any state progress and breakthrough does the same in sports. So representative sport is largely a reflection of politics. The exception may be the national football team, but only because FIFA largely finances the association and does not allow any political influence.
In such circumstances, lower levels help sports teams and individuals. And considering that they mostly give money from budget reserves or similar departments, then officials, politicians or representatives of institutions do it loudly, so that everyone can hear.
Yes, there are exceptions, and there are such exceptions in the case of Lana Pudar, so she herself confirmed this when speaking at the reception in Mostar that she had no problems with finances.
Lana Pudar’s media attention is now used by many, so it is not difficult for them to go to Stari Most over the weekend for a photo and to point out how they helped.
Of course, Lana deserves all the support she received and much more, but the current emphasis on money and the apartment that is allocated to her is more like a political diverting attention of the public’s eyes as to why there are no systemic solutions so far.
Will all those politicians now one after another award money like this to successful athletes, or is the solution in a systemic approach? Those who allocate apartments and money today come from parties that previously refused to vote for some systemic solutions, such as the law on sports.
And yes, at Lana Pudar’s reception there should have been sports workers and citizens, not politicians in the front rows. Only when every athlete representing the country is in a situation where he does not have to worry about whether his national team will have money to perform at a championship. Only when they have satisfactory conditions for training, only then will politicians be able to come to the front row to celebrate their success with a bouquet of flowers. Until then, everything is political self-promotion, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
