At the fifth sitting, held on 4 December, the members of the Youth and Sports Committee were briefed on the Ministry of Youth and Sports Information on the recently completed 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, with a focus on the means invested and results achieved and the Ministry’s plan and programme for the preparation of Serbian sportsmen and women for the upcoming 2012 Olympics in London.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Deputy Chairman, Milan Vuckovic, and attended by the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Snezana Samardzic-Markovic, State Secretary Slavisa Zlatanovic, Assistant Minister in charge of the sports sector Vojislav Tabacki and Dragan Atanasov, Head of the Sports Department.

Before presenting the 2008 OG Information and the Ministry’s plan and programme for the 2012 OG, Minister Samardzic-Markovic stressed that the Ministry had done the analysis of the implemented actions and financial investment based on the Olympic Committee’s Reports on the means spent and results achieved in the 2008 OG. She informed the Committee members on the Strategy of Sport Development in the Republic of Serbia for the 2009 – 2012 period, recently adopted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

The Information on the recently completed 2008 OG in Beijing and the Plan and Programme for the upcoming 2012 Olympics were outlined for the Committee members by the Head of the Sports Department, Dragan Atanasov. He pointed out that the Ministry had allocated about 248 million dinars in 2007 and 2008 for the purpose of financing the Olympic Committee. The Ministry financed 93 national branch councils, and spent 10 million dinars on funding potential OG candidates. Also, in the 2006 – 2008 period about 3 million dinars were allocated to finance 50 sportsmen and women who had won medals at big competitions. Unfortunately, out of them as many as 30 did not manage to qualify for the OG. The Ministry also financed disabled persons sports and will continue to do so in the upcoming period.

Concerning the preparations for the 2012 OG in London, the Ministry has so far received the broadest lists of potential candidates – OG participants via the national branch councils and the number amounts to 599 sportspeople up to date. The Olypic Committee has so far recognised 11 candidates for individual disciplines, and it was also agreed that all the relevant participants in the process submit sports preparation plans for all four years along with financial plans.

In the discussion, the Committee members applauded the passing of the Strategy of Sport Development in Serbia, which will systematically regulate the field of sports, as well as the work on the Draft Sports Law and on revitalising the Republic Sports Institute.

The Committee members went on to unanimously adopt the Conclusion on the Recommendation for the National Assembly Speaker Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic to include the Bill on the Confirmation of the International Convention Against Doping in Sports into the agenda for one of the upcoming sittings.