President Milanović Receives Rijeka Sports Union Delegation
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović has received in his Office a delegation of the Rijeka Sports Union, a non-profit alliance of sports associations from the city of Rijeka that has joined 200 sports associations participating in 46 different sports.
At the meeting, the delegation of the alliance informed President Milanović about the group’s activities that are being carried out for the purpose of developing and promoting sports in the Rijeka area, encouraging creativity and creating conditions for top sports achievements, the practice of sports among children and youth, and sports and recreational activities among the general public and persons with disabilities. The alliance also promotes sports as an educational tool that teaches fair play, understanding, tolerance and responsibility through sports and also propagates Olympic ideals and contributes to the strengthening of the Olympic movement. The delegation particularly emphasized that Rijeka will soon become the second Croatian Olympic Committee partner city in Croatia.
The delegation mentioned that one of the main activities of the Rijeka Sports Union is supporting its members by co-financing their work through the Public Needs in Sports programme of the City of Rijeka and by encouraging mass participation and excellence in sports. The Rijeka Sports Union is currently implementing 13 EU projects and through education and assistance to sports clubs it is actively contributing to the development of sports in the city of Rijeka, which was declared a European City of Sport in 2022, it was also pointed out at the meeting.
Commenting on specific projects, the delegation especially mentioned the RiMove project that is intended for lower primary school pupils, which offers children the opportunity to actively engage in and get acquainted with all available sports during their extended school stay. After several years of implementation, the project has received the status of an EU project and is being carried out in several countries.
In addition to the RiMove project, the delegation highlighted other ongoing projects, such as the training of non-swimmers (Rijeka-pliva project) thanks to which all primary school children learn to swim. Through its projects, the union has demonstrated that it is looking after the well-being of the general public, especially senior citizens, who have at their disposal several free recreational programs and zones.
The members of the Rijeka Sports Union delegation included President Dorotea Pešić Bukovac, Secretary General of the Croatian Olympic Committee Siniša Krajač, Vice President of the Rijeka Sports Union Sanja Pavić, members of the Rijeka Sports Union Sports Programmes Ksenija Trninić and Zoran Pjevalica, the lawyer of the Rijeka Sports Union Snježana Pajić and event organizer Orijana Pernjak Grbac. Commissioner of the President of the Republic for Sports Željko Jovanović was alongside President Milanović at the meeting.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Filip Glas