Besim Hasani, the president of the Kosovo Olympic Committee, has said that Kosovo should be satisfied if its representative at the Winter Olympic Games held in South Korea, skier Albin Tahiri, manages to rank among the top 40 countries. .
"We are dealing with a very well prepared, very dedicated sportsman and I believe he will represent the country well. The Ski Federation predicts that Tahiri will be ranked among the 27-30 best in the world. We reckon it will be somewhere between the top 30 and 40. If it enters among the 40 countries in the world, this would make us happy because this is our capacity", said Hasani in the "Express Interview" today on KTV.
Hasani said that since this is Kosovo's first participation in the Winter Olympic Games, without a doubt that this is a new experience.
"The preparations were made on time and quite well", said Hasani.
Hasani described the acceptance of the flag by the head of state, Hashim Thaçi, as an additional motivation for the athlete Tahiri.
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"It is a good practice of the countries of the world, which has its own symbolism of the presentation of the state. This is definitely an additional motive," he said.
Hasani also spoke about the wide delegation of Kosovo with which he will travel to Korea. Only one athlete will go there, potentially escorted by 16 state officials.
In "Express Interview", Hasani explained this by saying that they do not go with the expenses of the Olympic Committee of Kosovo. Hasani said that he and the KOK secretary have their expenses paid by the International Olympic Committee. According to him, the KOK Board has approved the request that two members of the Board go, as well as a sponsor, which, as he said, is the practice of other committees as well. Kosovo will remove the expenses for them.
Koha Ditore reported days ago that the Kosovo delegation in Asia could be up to 16 state officials. The Presidency of Kosovo has 4 invitations, the Prime Minister's Office 3 and the Ministry of Sports 2 more. The newspaper wrote that Albin Tahiri is the only skier from Kosovo who will be released on the Pyeongchang trails at the Winter Olympics, but that he will not feel the lack of support.
In South Korea, where from the 9th to the 25th of this month, the "Pyeongchang 2018" LOD will be held, a large delegation of Kosovo is expected to travel. Coach Agim Pupovci, head of mission Bujar Turjaka and Kushtrim Krasniqi will travel with Tahir. This foursome will be located in the Olympic Village, the newspaper wrote. Others will be accommodated in hotels.
Hasani has said that President Hashim Thaçi has said that he will try to be at the opening ceremony of these Games in Korea after the morning prayers in the USA.
"But this has nothing to do with us. Mr. Thaçi comes there himself", said Hasani, as he showed that Haradinaj had told them earlier that the agenda does not allow him to be present.
According to Hasan, officials from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports have been accredited, but it is not yet known if they will go.
Below you can read the full article of Koha Ditore, published on Thursday of last week:
Kosovo goes to South Korea with 1 contestant and 16 officials
Albin Tahiri is the only skier from Kosovo who will hit the Pyeongchang trails at the Winter Olympics. But he will not feel the lack of support.
In South Korea, where from the 9th to the 25th of this month, the "Pyeongchang 2018" LOD will be held, a large delegation of Kosovo is expected to travel.
Coach Agim Pupovci, head of mission Bujar Turjaka and Kushtrim Krasniqi will travel with Tahir. This foursome will be located in the Olympic Village.
Others will be accommodated in hotels.
With the invitation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the chairman of the KOK, Besim Hasani, the general secretary, Shasivar Haxhijaj, as well as two members of the Board will travel.
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President Hasani has announced that the IOC has distributed invitations to the Presidency, Prime Minister and MKRS. It has not revealed how many invitations have been allocated to these institutions, but the newspaper has learned from its sources that four invitations are for the Presidency, three for the Prime Minister and two for MKRS.
If all the invitations are used, together with the skier Tahiri, the only one who secured a rate, at least 16 people will travel. This number may increase, if the same is done as in the Summer Olympic Games "Rio 2016", when the KOK was forced to book other hotel rooms than those originally allocated by the organizer. The number of members of the Kosovo delegation in Rio was never made known, but it is believed to be very large - many times larger than the number of athletes.
The Presidency of Kosovo has announced that they have received invitations from KOK. But President Hashim Thaçi's adviser, Artan Behrami, told the newspaper over the phone that the final decision has not yet been made as to whether President Thaçi will travel to South Korea. On this issue, he promised to respond in writing as well, but until late Thursday, he did not do so.
The expenses are borne by the institutions of Kosovo
Travel and accommodation expenses, according to practice, are covered by the participants themselves, respectively the institutions they represent, such as the Presidency, the Prime Minister's Office and the MKRS.
"Outside the Olympic Village in Korea, there will also be two members of the Executive Board of the KOK. Based on the sponsorship contract for a few days in South Korea, there will be a sponsor of the KOK. From the KON, they have also received an invitation the president of the country, the prime minister and the minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. The president and general secretary of the KOK also have an invitation from the KON", said the head of the KOK, Besim Hasani, on Thursday.
In fact, KON sends out invitations to participating national committees and institutions of the countries they represent, also reserves hotel rooms for them, but does not cover the expenses.
Unlike Rio 2016, when the large number of officials - some of whom brought along family members - slightly overshadowed Majlinda Kelmendi's historic success at the Winter Olympics this month, Tahiri is not considered likely to win. medal. In the qualifying races he has usually finished among the last.
The president of the Skiing Federation of Kosovo, Milaim Kelmendi, has given up on the trip to Korea.
However, he will participate in the ceremony of handing over the state flag by the state president, Hashim Thaçi. The flag with which Tahiri will parade in the opening ceremony on February 9 and the closing ceremony on February 25 will be handed over to him this weekend.
Tahiri himself told the newspaper on Thursday that he is proud to represent Kosovo. He was born in Slovenia, but his origins are from Kosovo. He is currently in Slovenia.
Albini is proud
"This will be one of the best moments in my life. I have been training for this event all my life and now the moment has come, as everything has paid off. I am proud to represent Kosovo even though I would have liked to be more many athletes. But in this case I am the only one and I will have more pressure, but at the same time it makes me even more proud. So, I cannot describe in words the feeling I have. I have prepared in the best possible way and we will see what we will achieve. I expect to give everything from myself and on the day of the race to have the best release", Tahiri told the newspaper on Thursday.
Tahiri, together with the Kosovo Olympic team, will leave for Pyeongchang on February 5.
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Neither the KOK nor the Kosovo Ski Federation expect Tahiri from South Korea to return with an Olympic medal.
"Preparations for the Olympic Winter Games have gone well. KOK has been supporting potential candidates for reaching the Olympic standard during the last months and weeks. Finally, Kosovo is participating in the Olympic Winter Games 'Pyeongchang 2018' with Albin Tahir, who has reached five Olympic standard disciplines. He has prepared well. According to the Skiing Federation of Kosovo and Albini, he feels in good shape, he feels proud to represent Kosovo, which is participating in the LOD for the first time, and of course he will give his best for the plasma as best as possible. We expect that Albini will be ranked somewhere among the participating contestants", stated the chairman of KOK, Besim Hasani.
