Zagreb, September 2, 2024 – Under the chairmanship of the Croatian Olympic Committee President Zlatko Mateša, the 71st session of the Croatian Olympic Committee Council was held in Zagreb, marking the final meeting of the current term. The session was also attended by IOC member from Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.
After a minute of silence for the deceased Olympians Rato Tvrdić and Mislav Bezmalinović, Mateša extended congratulations for the results of the Croatian Olympians in Paris and gave special praise to the outstanding young athletes and the President of the Croatian Athletics Federation, Ivan Veštić, who responded:
"It is indeed an outstanding result for Croatia to rank 9th in the world and 2nd in Europe in terms of medals won at the Junior World Championships, but it is important to emphasize that, besides the Croatian Athletics Federation, the Croatian Olympic Committee also deserves great credit for this achievement, as all these young athletes have passed through its development programs, and all their coaches are part of the Croatian Olympic Committee’s coach co-financing program..."
The session continued with the semi-annual reports from the Croatian Olympic Committee’s development programs. The figures mostly show an increase... In the first half of 2024, the Croatian Olympic Committee supported a total of 89 athletes (51 female and 38 male) from 21 individual sports in the RZ I program. The number of athletes in this program in the first half of 2024 was 33 more, covering five additional sports compared to the same period last year. Compared to the July report, only athlete Jan Ferina changed his status, moving to the Croatian Olympic Hopes program. In the support program for younger age categories in team sports (RZ I/2), the Croatian Olympic Committee supported 157 athletes from seven team sports (seven female and five male teams). In the support program for promising athletes (RZ II/1), the Croatian Olympic Committee supported a total of 105 athletes (45 female and 60 male) from 27 individual sports, seven fewer than in the same period last year. New additions include Dominik Jezernik (athletics), Gia Kastelan, Antonio Lukač, and Marko Milanović (wrestling), Josip Tafra (sailing), Fran Mikulić (arm wrestling), Lana Lizak and Ivana Vuk (beach volleyball/75% financing), Luka Čarapović, Mia Hren, and Fran Miodrag (swimming), and Mateo Zrinski (shooting-trap/75% financing). In the support program for promising athletes in team sports (RZ II/2), the Croatian Olympic Committee supported 140 athletes (47 male and 93 female) from five team sports - basketball, volleyball, handball, artistic swimming, and water polo - in the first half of this year. The program covered 10 teams - seven female and three male. In the support program for quality athletes in the first half of 2024 (RZ III), the Croatian Olympic Committee supported a total of 117 athletes (59 female and 58 male) from 27 individual sports. This represents an increase of 36 athletes and three sports compared to the same period last year. A new name on the list since the last update is Niko Bilandžić (kickboxing), who has been eligible for the program since July 1. In the Croatian Olympic Hopes program for the first half of 2024, the Croatian Olympic Committee supported a total of 46 athletes (26 female and 20 male) from 15 individual sports. New entrants to the program as of July 1 include Lorena Horvat (boxing), Toni Dragoja, and Vili Sivec (swimming), and as of August 1: Eva Barbarić, Vita Barbić, and Jan Ferina (athletics), and Maro Miknić (swimming).
In the first six months of 2024, the development programs for coaches covered 48 sports with 142 coaches, categorized into seven groups. There have been numerous updates in the Croatian Olympic Committee’s coach co-financing program since the pre-Olympic July list. As of September 1, Franjo Pavlović (athletics/coach of Filip Pravdica) has been included in the "quality coaches" category, and as of August 1, Marin Morić (boxing) has been included in the "coaches of younger age groups" category, while coaches Leonardo Pijetraj and Tomislav Bašić ceased to be beneficiaries of the Croatian Olympic Committee’s coach co-financing program as of July 31. Based on Aurel Benović's 5th place at the Paris Olympics, Vladimir Mađarević (gymnastics) was promoted from "quality coach" to the "excellent coaches" category as of August 1. From the same date, the coach responsible for judo athlete Barbara Matić's Olympic gold, Vladimir Preradović, was placed in the elite "top coaches" category, and also from judo, Josip Barić was included in the "excellent coaches" category, and Tomislav Marijanović in the "quality coaches" category (from July 1). The Olympic silver of tennis player Donna Vekić earned her coach Nikola Horvat the status of "top coach" in the Croatian Olympic Committee’s program as of September 1. Based on Matija Marinić’s 8th place at the Olympics, his coach Stjepan Perestegi was placed in the "excellent coaches" category starting in August. On the proposal of the Croatian Football Federation, coach Ivica Olić has been in the "team Olympic sports coaches" category since July 1, while coach Dragan Skočić was removed from the list as of June 30. The Council also accepted the Croatian Swimming Federation's proposal to include Ivica Androić (coach of the youngest Paris Olympian Jana Pavalić) in the "quality coaches" category, as well as Andrej Belaić in the "coaches of younger age groups" category as of August 1. On the same date, the proposal from the Croatian Savate Federation was accepted, including Predrag Šimunec in the "quality coaches" category. The Croatian Diving Federation successfully nominated Marina Novosel for the "coaches of younger age groups" category.
The Croatian Olympic Committee Council unanimously accepted the proposal to suspend funding to the Croatian Chess Federation due to illegal operations, which should remain in effect until the establishment of legitimate Federation bodies and compliance with legal regulations.
Positive recommendations for Croatian citizenship from the Croatian Olympic Committee were granted to the 17-year-old outstanding baseball player Spencer David Curran Mathers (USA), the 22-year-old water polo player Matija Žeželj (Serbia), and long-time taekwondo coach Ali Noghdandoost (Iran).
The Croatian Olympic Committee approved non-material sponsorship for the event "Perica Vlašić - From Vela Luka to Henley," which will be held on September 14-15, 2024, in Vela Luka.
Under "miscellaneous," the Croatian Olympic Committee Secretary General Siniša Krajač summarized the achievements of the current Council term (2020-2024), highlighting a 150% overall increase in the Croatian Olympic Committee revenues, the Croatian Olympic Committee's relocation to its own premises, and comprehensive improvements in the Croatian Olympic Committee's operations and activities.
For the Croatian Olympic Committee electoral assembly in early October, national sports federations must define their representatives by September 12 and submit any potential candidacy proposals by September 24.
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