Tag Archives: Sport

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Sport and Integration?

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Sport and Integration?

The Roma Association of Slovenia organized a round table in Murska Sobota entitled Sports and culture within the Roma community – challenges of the future. The discussion, which took place in Mikko, was led by the president of the association, Jožek Horvat Muc, and was attended by Danica Polak Gruden, director of the Office for Nationalities, Damjan Anželj, mayor of the Municipality of Murska Sobota, Miran Kos, vice president of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia, Darko Rudaš, Roma councilor in the Municipality of Murska Sobota, and Dejan Židan, state secretary at the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport.

Well, regardless of this, sport is not going to solve the issue …

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Racism and Football

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Racism and Football

Last November, young footballers from Jihlava, Czechia, had to listen to racist insults on a train from Děčín. The event also angered President Petr Pavel at the time. The Jihlava club Mongaguá is now reporting another unpleasant experience, this time directly from the Jihlava square.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia: Integration

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Croatia: Integration

Međimurje County invited citizens to vote online to support the story of the Međimurje Sports Network about Vjeran Balog from Parag, which has entered the competition for the best journalistic work on the topic of inclusion and tolerance in the community.

The story follows Vjeran Balog, a football coach dedicated to working with young people, who last week became the first Roma to hold a coaching diploma from the Croatian Football Federation (HNS). His example shows how motivation and focus can overcome great obstacles.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Racism in Sports

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Racism in Sports

The police is investigating an incident in which fans of the LHK Jestřábi Prostějov hockey club chanted racist slogans and sang a song with hateful lyrics in Hodonín (Czechia) on Saturday, November 8, 2025. According to the police, an anti-conflict team intervened on the spot and stopped the illegal actions. The police are investigating the case.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria, Roma, and Schools

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Bulgaria, Roma, and Schools

Kristiana Koleva, who was the weightlifting coach of 15-year-old Krasi, who was stabbed and killed in a Sofia mall, was a special guest on “Darik’s Day” and shared what her calling is.

“We tell them how to be decent people, to study, to get up early, not to be on those phones. But do you know what I think? That the state is also very guilty of this. And the family. Believe me, these children have a lot of bread in them and they are good people, but we have to work with them. This is not only done by the coaches in the gym. We are like a father, like a mother to them. But the state also has to work.”

News Eastern Europe Serbia

100 Years

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100 Years

Football in Leskovac, Serbia, among the Leskovac Roma, began to be played between the two world wars, and their first official match was recorded on July 26, 1926 in the then city weekly “Leskovački dnevnik”.

But the idea of ​​forming a Roma football club began a year earlier, on St. George’s Day in that distant year 1925, in a smoky tavern on the edge of this popular Roma neighbourhood.

Now the club apparently closed …

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Football

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Football

The associations “Roma Cloud of Imagination” and “Ki Rota” organized a football tournament in Kikinda, Serbia , on the occasion of World Roma Day celebrated every year on April 8. This day aims to promote equality, human rights and social inclusion, as well as to highlight the importance of integrating the Roma into all spheres of society.

“The city administration has initiated several important measures to improve the living standards of the Roma. Among these measures is the provision of school supplies for every child from the first to the eighth grade, while last year high school graduates were allowed to use the restroom during the graduation ceremony, and this practice will continue this year. Although it is clear that the Roma face numerous challenges and that the process of their integration and inclusion requires time and effort, the goal of the city administration is to lay a solid foundation for future generations and to do everything in their power to improve the position of the Roma community,” said Željko Radu, member of the City Council responsible for social policy, demographic changes, vulnerable groups and human rights.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Best Roma Athlete

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Best Roma Athlete

In the Duše Škof Hall (former castle hall) in Murska Sobota, Slovenia, awards were presented to the best Roma athletes and teams in 2024. The best Roma athlete of the past year is Alja Horvat, a member of the national champions of the ŽNK Mura Nona team in the under-17 competition, and the best Roma athlete is wrestler Mitja Cener, a member of the Sobota Wrestling Association, who achieved exceptional success in the Balkan championship and domestic competitions.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Sport, and Roma

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Slovakia, Sport, and Roma

When eighth grader Sebastián Žiga traveled to Indonesia in December for the MMA World Championships, it was an extraordinary event for the Ľ. Podjavorinská Elementary School in the Luník IX housing estate in Košice.

The fourteen-year-old Roma boy was the first student in the school’s history to reach the world championship in any sport. He finished 8th in the under 16 category.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma Children

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Slovenia held some “Roma Olympiad” in the Primary School III Murska Sobota. This grand Title covered a sports and recreational event intended for children between the ages of 4 and 9 who attend the first triad of the nine-year primary school and the last year of the kindergarten program. Special emphasis was placed on the inclusion of Roma children through sports.

Nice intentions, zero effect…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

A Sad Story

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He has known success, fame and admiration, but also a rough fall to the bottom. Slovak bodybuilder of Roma origin and five-time European champion Adam Cibuľa will celebrate his 60th birthday today in the street.

“You walk around the city, sometimes people give you one or two euros for food. Then you look for a place to sleep. And the next day it’s the same all over again,” Cibuľa described to the Slovak newspaper MY Novohrad in an interview in August.

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