Olympic Committee of Kosovo

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. As such, the OCK has not been granted an abbreviation or code to represent Kosovo^[a] in international sporting events.

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] Kosovo has yet to be recognized by the UN, and it did not field a team for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing or the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Paralympics and Special Olympics

Kosovo athletes took part in the Special Olympics in 2003 (Dublin) ^[5] and in 2007 (Shanghai) ^[6],and in 2011 Athens. 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 is planned.

Notes and references

Notes:

References: