Albanian sports stars were awarded special prizes today during a gala evening hosted by the Albanian Olympic Committee in honor of the best performing athletes and coaches in the last two years, who have made Albania proud with their achievements in the global stage of sports.
Prime Minister Edi Rama Edi Rama attended the event, who presented Albania’s Brazilian coach Sylvinho Mendes Campos Júnior with a trophy awarded by the Albanian Olympic Committee.
* * *
It is absolutely a privilege for me to have been granted the opportunity to personally present the manager of our national team with this symbol of appreciation and award from the Albanian Olympic Committee and I very much hope this small trophy will be a sign and good omen in the stride for a much bigger trophy.
I haven’t had much opportunity to speak with the coach, but I spoke briefly with President of the Albanian Football Federation earlier this morning, because I happened to meet the manager of the Italian national side in Rome, who, among others, told me:”Albania is the best performing squad compared with all national sides currently. I hope Albania will decline and Italy will improve performance in the next six months, but if I were given the chance to choose, I would in no way choose to take on Albania in the opening game.”
I would like to briefly address each and every one of you at this moment of festive track record of the Albanian Olympic Committee. I think we have ushered in a new era with the incredible success of the national football side, on one hand, a hard-fought success and accomplishments being through tough moments from the previous qualification to the last qualification for a major European tournament. It is a significant success for the country and the whole nation, as it shows that nothing stands in their way and stops them when a team of talented men, with a strong desire and commitment to make any sacrifices to achieve their common goal, also with the right management.
I am very happy we have already overcome a stage that has been not only extremely difficult, but also incredibly indecent for all of us, the Albanian state, the government and definitely the Albanian sports committees and federations, namely the stage when – as the President of the Albanian Olympic Committee rightly noted – our champions and athletes had either fled or were representing other countries, or they were denied any support from the government when they represented Albania in the international sports events, and when they retired they were totally abandoned.
Today, not only this is no longer the case, but it has been already guaranteed that it will never happen again, because every sportsman and sportswoman, who achieve successful athletic performance, winning local and international prizes, are all entitled to a reward and are included in a system that makes sure that all these champions take a honorable position in the society once they retire from the sports activity and events and they remain not only in the heart and the memories of those who have witnessed their triumph, but also in their daily lives by joining the Armed Forces, the security forces and by being awarded the highest military and law enforcement ranks, which are in a way symbolic ones, as they don’t actually exercise the duties and the powers of colonels and lieutenant colonels and so on, but as much as they are symbolic, they are also compatible with a secure salary for life, they are also compatible with the corresponding pension that comes after the salary, without even counting an impact next and I closed, that the rewards for our athletes who bring medals to our country are among the highest in Europe. This is the only way we have succeeded in stopping athletes from leaving and we had never imagined that foreign athletes, not only from the East but also from the West, would ever represent Albania by becoming Albanian citizens, something that has actually been the case in more powerful and wealthier countries. I am very glad to announce that it was just a few days ago that we provided the Football Federation with some support in terms of management and preparations for the European Championship next year.
However, I am confident the best is ahead and that we have also embarked on a process of taking sports movement to a whole new level, just like the process we already have started with the sports movement in schools that forms a very important foundation, but which will take both time and the necessary patience to fully take a final shape.
On behalf of each and every one of you I would like to extend a special appreciation to the President of the European Olympic Committee, who is honoring us through his attendance in this event together with the Secretary General. Coincidentally, one of them is Greek and the other Italian, so Greeks, Italians and Albanians have all come together in a single common family, whereas a Brazilian is also joining us. We will let the Greek and the Italian be the way they are, but we will make sure that the Brazilian becomes an Albanian and together with the President of the Football Federation we have made our mind to do so, but the Brazilian has also gladly accepted to acquire Albanian citizenship. I would like again to thank and express personal gratitude to each and every one of you also for the fact that despite you being here to celebrate together with the sportsmen and sportswomen at this gala evening hosted by the Olympic Committee you were again forced to listen to my speech too.
Thank you!
