(ATR) Spyros Capralos tells Around the Rings he hopes the new Greek government will reintroduce funding for elite athletes after nearly six barren years.
The far-left Syriza swept to power in Sunday's general election, an upheaval that triggered concerns about the government’s emphasis on the Greek sports movement.
Capralos called for the new government to introduce funding for elite sportsmen and women. Amid the country’s financial crisis, the Hellenic Olympic Committee and national federations stopped receiving for top-level sport in 2009, forcing the HOC to fundraise from private sources and sponsors.
"I would like the government to provide funding for elite-level sport," the Hellenic Olympic Committee president told ATR on Tuesday.
"Eight MPs come from sport, so I hope we will have a few allies and alliances within the government and parliament," he said.
With new prime minister Alexis Tsipras set to unveil his cabinet, Capralos said it was too early to say what kind of impact the anti-austerity coalition government would have on Greek sport.
"The first signal will be the importance given to sport, depending if it has its own ministry or is in another ministry. Up to now sport was under the ministry of culture and a deputy minister who was minister of sport," Capralos said.
"I am not so fearful about sport. I am fearful that some bureaucracies may stop the [national] federations doing some work. Because work in sport doesn’t stop, we need to send athletes to competitions and continue funding [them]."
The Greek Olympic leader said he hoped a clearer picture of the government’s sports policies would emerge in the coming days.
"I would like the government to see sport as something important for the daily and social life of the Greeks," he said.
"And I think for the country that gave birth to the Olympic Games, I hope that still the importance of high-level and elite sport will be dealt with by the government."
Capralos said the Hellenic Olympic Committee was looking forward to the "cooperation of the new government" to help it prepare athletes for major international events and the Olympics "and hopefully continue success in the Olympic Games."
Reported by Mark Bisson
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
