ATR First: IOC Investigates Serbia Ban on Kosovan Athletes

(ATR) The IOC says it may punish Serbia after the country’s government reneged on a deal to let a Kosovo team participate in the European Karate Championships.

On Wednesday, Serbian police blocked a delegation of Kosovan athletes from crossing the border because they carried state symbols. The Kosovan Olympic Committee said a second attempt, with the team wearing street clothes rather than official uniforms, was also denied later in the day.

Political tensions remain since the Balkan nation declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Kosovan athletes were due to take part in the championships, which opened in Novi Sad, Serbia on Thursday.

The ban provoked an angry response from the Kosovan Olympic Committee president and the IOC. It comes just a week after Thomas Bach’s ruling IOC board said it was bringing in a "zero tolerance" policy on countries discriminating against others.

"Our message for the Serbian government is: They managed to stop our karate athletes enter in Serbia, but they will never manage to stop the dream of our karatekas to present their country at Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. For us this is not sport, this is politics," Kosovo NOC president Besim Hasani tells Around the Rings.

Pere Miro, the IOC’s deputy director general for relations with the Olympic Movement, tells ATR that the IOC has been following the case of Kosovo competing in the European Karate Championships "very closely". The World Karate Federation and the NOCs of Kosovo and Serbia had alerted the IOC of the "problematic participation of the Kosovo delegation".

He said a solution had been brokered after meetings and talks over 10 days between World Karate and the championship organizers, mainly Serbian government officials, to allow Kosovan athletes to take part.

"We were informed that this solution was agreed by all parties involved. The NOC of Serbia and the IOC member there [Nenad Lalovic] were totally involved in the talks, helping very much finding a positive solution. The IOC was helping facilitating and intermediating in all the conversations," he said.

Miro admitted that the IOC was taken aback when on Wednesday the bus transporting the Kosovan delegation was stopped at the border.

"The result was the refusal of access to Serbia by the border police that in principle should have been given to the Kosovo delegation, following all guarantees obtained through the agreements."

"We have opened an investigation in the matter," he added "and depending on the results, the IOC is ready to take all necessary measures to avoid this situation being repeated, totally consistent with our policy of zero tolerance in these kind of situations."

Miro said the was told the block on Kosovan athletes was related to "some incidents during the process of checking papers" at the Serbian border.

"This was separate and seems independent of the agreements obtained. We have different versions about the facts and responsibilities. We hope our investigation will clarify this point," he added.

Miro declined to speak about any "concrete measures" the IOC might impose on Serbia.

"But following the last EB discussion and talks with all IFs during SportAccord, it seems very clear to me that only countries giving guarantees of participation with no discrimination for all athletes, should be awarded in future the organization of international sports events," he said.

Lalovic, the IOC member from Serbia, was vocal about the growing tide of nationalism disrupting international events at SportAccord in Bangkok last month. New to the IOC Executive Board, the president of United World Wrestling again raised concerns at his first EB meeting last week in Lausanne.

Miro said Lalovic "was very active helping in the negotiations and in the final positive agreement".

Kosovo Anger at Ban

Kosovo NOC chief Hasani told ATR that he had held talks with the IOC and World Karate chief Antonio Espinos on Wednesday and informed the Olympic governing body of the border problem when the Kosovo karate delegation was turned away from the Serbian border for a second time.

He expressed anger at the Serbian ban, saying all hope of Kosovans participating was now lost. "No, we don’t have any chance to take part in the 53rd European Karate Championship, because of the decision of Serbian government. No one of the karate Kosovo team will be allowed to enter Serbia."

"The decision of the Serbian government to mix in sports is in contravention of the Olympic Charter, the statute of the World Karate Federation and human rights," Hasani added. "Our karate players were not going to Novi Sad as tourists, but were invited by the European Karate Federation."

In a statement Thursday, the World Karate Federation told ATR that, despite its best efforts to find a solution, the situation remain unchanged, with Kosovan athletes still banned by Serbia.

"We have 52 of the 53 national federations confirmed at the championships, and we strive to make sure that all the athletes will be able to compete.

"The EKF [European Karate Federation] has always had the policy of making our tournaments as open and accessible as possible and we will continue to endeavor to promote the participation of all the athletes in our events," a statement said.

Kosovo was officially recognized by the IOC at its 2013 Session in Monaco, paving the way for the small Balkan nation to compete at the Baku 2015 European Games, its first major international event. Kosovan athletes also competed at the Rio 2016 Games.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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