ZAVIDOVIĆI INCIDENT MUST NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN ON SPORTS VENUE

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 17 /SRNA/ – Danijela Ćapin, Assistant Minister of Sports of Republika Srpska, has said today that inappropriate content and events at the volleyball tournament in Zavidovići must never happen again at any sports venue.

"Sport is not a reality TV show. Children are human beings at a sensitive age. We need to enable them to grow up normally and healthily through sport, rather than exposing them to stress and abuse," Ćapin told the press after meeting with representatives of the University Volleyball Club Banja Luka Volley whose female volleyball players participated in the tournament. According to her, anyone who believes that the kind of experiments seen in Zavidovići are appropriate has no place in sport. "That is Republika Srpska's position," Ćapin said. She added that this incident had also proven that the line ministry is on the right track in insisting that children in sport should be supervised by professionals and trained personnel, noting that the relevant rulebook is nearing completion. "The club has our full support, and I would like to say that we have also officially contacted the Volleyball Federation of BiH. According to the information available to me, a procedure to determine responsibility has been initiated. We will certainly follow this case through to the end," Ćapin said. Draško Madžar, president of the University Volleyball Club "Banja Luka Volley" stressed that institutional support is extremely important to them at this moment. "The entire volleyball community has condemned this incident. I must say that we received an offer of EUR 5,000 and an apology from the Norwegian production company that staged the performance, but I will certainly reject that offer because human dignity cannot be bought with money. Someone had to think about the athletes and the underage children, because such scenes certainly have no place on a sports field," Madžar said. He said that the club would arrange medical examinations for the players because they had experienced serious panic attacks and stress that would not be easy to overcome. Andrea Šantić, a volleyball player with the Banja Luka club, thanked the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports of Republika Srpska for its support. "This happened to us on a court where we had come to play a friendly match. We still do not feel well, either on the court or in everyday life, and we will need time to overcome this," Šantić said. At the women's volleyball tournament in Zavidovići on Sunday, September 13, young volleyball players from the University Volleyball Club Banja Luka Volley were exposed to inappropriate content, stress, and events unrelated to volleyball. The sporting event organised by the Krivaja Volleyball Club from Zavidovići turned into an incident that prompted strong reactions from the public, sports associations, and the line ministries.