Olympic Committee of Kosovo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic Committee of Kosovo Komiteti Olimpik i Kosovës |
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| Formation | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Priština |
| Location | Kosovo |
| Chairman | Besim Hasani |
The Olympic Committee of Kosovo (OCK) (Albanian: Komiteti Olimpik i Kosovës (KOK)) was officially established in 2003 [1] by Law No. 2003/24 "Law on Sport". The OCK is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and therefore its athletes are not entitled to participate in the Summer or Winter Olympic Games. The current chairperson is Besim Hasani [2].
The United Nations led administration in Kosovo has established a working group to engage with the IOC to allow athletes to participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in a manner similar to the participation of that of East Timorese athletes at the Sydney 2000 games [3]. The working group consists of UNMIK, the Kosovo Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the OCK.
Following Kosovo's declaration of independence, a spokesperson for the IOC stated that Kosovo should be "recognized by the United Nations as an independent state and meet various sports requirements before gaining Olympic status" [4] which would make it unlikely that a delegation of the Olympic Committee of Kosovo will participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. However athletes from Kosovo may still be able to participate as "individual Olympic athletes"
[edit] Paralympics and Special Olympics
Kosovo athletes took part in the Special Olympics in 2003 (Dublin) [5] and in 2007 (Shanghai) [6]. A body known as Special Olympics Kosovo has been established to provide support for these athletes [7]. Murat Bajrami is the chairperson of this body.
Kosovo athletes participated in the "IV World Sports Games for Little People" Rambouillet, France in 2005 [8]. A Paralympic federation in planned.
