Skopje, 13 August 2024 (MIA) - We won’t finance Olympic tourism as is the case right now, instead we will focus on the most talented, we will finance their programs, but we will also require the appropriate results. We will completely amend our approach, carry out a complete analysis of all potential future Olympians and focus on them, Minister of Sport Borko Ristovski told journalists on Tuesday.

Ristovski noted that the appropriate conditions must be in place before the country can seek results from its athletes, however, he said, “the weak Olympic results so far are a result of improper work, regardless of the funds available and the existing conditions”.

The Minister said the Sport Ministry will have publicly available programs, noting that all federations and sports will be involved in a four-year strategy and fully financed in order to ensure conditions for their development.  

“We will finance exceptionally talented future Olympians and programs that will be strict. We won’t finance Olympic tourism as is the case now, unfortunately, instead we will seek results from the appropriate federations that will be marked as our priority. That’s what we want to do in sport, what we want to achieve, and we won’t stop until we see the real athletes, real professionals at the Olympics,” the Minister stressed. 

Photo: MIA