Is Kosovo delaying in preparations for organising the 2030 Mediterranean Games?

The Mediterranean Games are events of diverse sports that take place every four years and are considered the most important after the Olympic Games.

Kosovo will be its host for the first time from July 24th to August 4th, 2030, in what would be the biggest sporting event held in the country so far.

Albania has pledged to help it by offering its coast for competitions in the sailing sport.

However, not everything is going according to plan for organisers, as works on building the main facility and renewing one of the most important have not even begun: the national stadium where the opening and closing ceremony of the dealt with and the Mediterranean village -- a complex necessary for the accommodation of about 5,000 athletes from some 26 participating countries.

Kosovo should have the sports infrastructure ready by approximately 2028 before it is tested and accepted by the international federations, and the government has allocated 250m euros into a game bill, which must be approved by the Parliament.

Kosovo's Ministry of Sports and Youth, together with the Pristina municipality and the Kosovo Olympic Committee (KOK), are responsible for organising these games.

KOK spokesman Conversion Krasniqi accepts for Radio Free Europe (REL) that Kosovo is lagging behind in preparation.

The “of course we're behind with the infrastructure and every passing day is on our fallback”, Krasniqi points out.

The construction of a national stadium is a constant theme in the country, but even though it is now more necessary than ever before, neither land nor money was divided for its construction.

We have the biggest impasse in the national stadium. Although football has been replaced by the oscillator, we need the national stadium for the opening and closing ceremony, as due to ICG rules and the greatness of these games, the stadium should be with a capacity of 25-30 thousand seats”, Krasniqi underscores.

Kosovo, according to Krasniqi, does not currently have any other option if it will not be available to a stadium with such seating on time.

However, Fidan Shatri of the Ministry of Sports and Youth denies that the country is stuck in preparation, underlining that “we can't say we're late, because most sports venues are designed for renovation and adaptation, not for construction from the start, which makes the process more manageable in terms of”.

As for the Mediterranean village, two projects -- one from the ministry and one from the Pristina municipality -- have been mentioned.

Pristina Chairman Progress Rama last October presented a project called “the Olympic animal”, showing that 60 hectares of land were divided in Bernice on the outskirts of the capital. Construction, however, has not begun.

But the ministry is working to prepare the Mediterranean village in the centre of the capital, at the Student Centre.

The project includes dormitories, gym 1 October, student mensis, health care centres and other escort facilities. Also included are the physical education halls of the capital's 12 schools.

Shatri says about REL is expected to proceed with the implementation project in the second part of the Mediterranean village, while in the first part of 2027 work is scheduled to begin the renovation and construction of the Students Centre, along with the October 1st gym.

The International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (ICMG) has pressured Kosovo to roll up its sleeves to carry out preparations on time.

During a visit to Pristina in late February, ICG Secretary General Iacovos Filipposis met with New Sport and Youth Minister Blerim Gashani, as well as KOK members, who were asked to speed up the works.

Krasniqi highlights that the ICG is monitoring the works and constantly and that the Kosovo interim Organising Committee (OCMG) is “consistently in co-ordination and co-operation with it”.

“O The CMG, which led the KOK president, Ismet Krasniqi, where members are also representatives of the Ministry of Sports and Youth, as well as the Pristina municipality, are continuing to work on preparing the best of the Pristina Mediterranean Games 2030 and currently we are on the verge of finalising the adoption of logos”, he adds.

Shatri, who is responsible for the director's duty at the Sports Agency at the Sports Ministry, says expectations are for projects to be completed in the second part of 2029, the period in which infrastructure testing is envisioned.

Meanwhile, in many other objects, the work is continuing, even in initial stages.

The “Adem Jashari” stadium in Mitrovica, which is Olympic and for multiple use, is being rebuilt, but the completion of the works seems far away.

This stadium, which was opened in 1979, also hosted the first international match of Kosovo's national football, known by FIFA in 2014, before it became a member two years later.

In this stadium, the only one designed to be used for the Mediterranean Games seems to hold athletic competitions.

Meanwhile, besides the stadium in Mitrovica, the state is aimed at rebuilding stadiums in other major cities, such as Gjakova, Gjilan and Pec.

However, because football was removed from the race calendar for the future Mediterranean Games, these stadiums will not be used during the games.

This has facilitated the work of organisers, seeing that works in their reconstruction have not marked progress.

But the stadium's reconstruction in Gjilan, for example, is extremely important for football development.

This town in the southeast of the country, among the largest in Kosovo, has two clubs that compete in Superleague, the elite race in the country: Gjilan and Light, this second champion in power.

These two clubs are forced to play in an alternative field with artificial grass and no eyebrows.

Meanwhile, when the candidacy was accepted in September 2023, Kosovo's goal was to promote tourists in the country through 2030 games.

The ICG calls the Mediterranean Games the most important event involving many types of sports after the Olympic Games.

For a country that has not been host to any major sports organisation, the organisation of the Mediterranean Games is seen as a major achievement for Kosovo.

26 countries from three continents are expected to participate in the 2030 Mediterranean Games, while the sports programme includes about 24 sports, with the participation of about five thousand athletes.

Whether Kosovo has performed works before 2029 and whether it will pass its sports infrastructure to organise the games remains to be seen. /Periscope