MKRS reacts to Ilija Ivric's situation, calls action a weak move to leave his parents' work

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Vlora Doshumi has strongly condemned the actions of Gracanica municipality to dismiss Ilija Ivqi's mother and threats to his outgoing father, the news writes.

Furthermore, the MKRS response is said to be unfortunate how Serbia through various pressures and forms tries to intervene in the lives of citizens of the Serb community in Kosovo.

The MKRS has estimated that Kosovo as a country respected the rights of all its citizens under the Constitution and gives them the right and freedom of choice in life and career.

This is the complete response of MKRS:

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, after communicating and consulting with the Kosovo Football Federation and the leaders of the football club “Fgurtari”, to find out about the situation of this club's football player, Ilija Iviq, comes with this reaction through which he condemns any policy intervention in sports.

Football player Ilija Iviq, born in Pristina, citizen of Kosovo's documentation, plays three years for the “Falgurer” club and as a result of the talent and passion he has for football, has recently been selected in Kosovo's U-19 football National. And because he has chosen to play for Kosovo, Ilija Ivic's mother has been exempted from working with decisions from the Gracanica municipality, where she has been working, while her father has received threats that she will be exempt from working as an educator.

All of this has happened after the footballer's determination in question to play for the U-19 National football, and this kind of pressure is put on football by MKRS is seen as flagrant interference of politics and other aspects in sports.

Considering that sports unites people indiscriminately, gender, ethnicity and race, the pressure given to the Ivych family, these acts that this family is going through we value as unacceptable and as policy interference in sports and direct pressure for football player Ilija Iviq not to represent Kosovo's colors in football.

In this case, Minister Vlora Dumosh strongly condemns these weak acts as she is trying to act against the law and is violating Kosovo's Constitution and human rights, through pressures of this nature, only to be prevented from allowing a talented young athlete to have nowhere to develop his sports career like the case of Ilija Iviqi, who is an equal citizen like all other Kosovo citizens.

Minister Doshumi stresses that it is unfortunate how through pressures of various forms the northern neighbouring state Serbia tries to intervene in the lives of the citizens of the Serb community living in Kosovo, putting pressure directly on the lives of Kosovo citizens in the worst way possible.

The Republic of Kosovo is a country that respects the rights of all its citizens, as it defines the Constitution of our country and each of its citizens has the right and freedom of choice for life and his career to develop normally in our common state.

And especially in sports, said Minister Dumosh, athletes, athletes, and in this case even footballers should never be looked into racial grounds and according to ethnic or religious affiliation, but always the footballers should be assessed on merit.

So, we like the MKRS, react harshly when an athlete is denied the right to hold his sports activity in the Republic of Kosovo. We will follow all possible legal ways so that the athletes and talents our country has indiscriminately, support them when they are wronged or denied their rights, and we will support them to advance and demonstrate their sports qualities and skills as basic human right in the first place and then as fellow citizens of Kosovo.