ZAGREB, 6 March, 2021 - Croatian Filip Mihaljević grabbed a bronze medal at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in the Polish city of Torun on Friday evening, with a throw of 21.31 metres.

Czech Republic’s Tomas Stanek became the European champion with his fifth round mark of 21.62m, while home favourite Michal Haratyk finished second with a throw of 21.47 metres. Polish Haratyk is the current European track and field outdoor champion in the shot put event.

Mihaljević is now the second Croatian track and field athlete to win a medal at European indoor championships. Before him it was runner Branko Zorko with a bronze medal in the 1,500 metre race at the  22nd European Athletics Indoor Championships in Genoa, Italy, in 1992, and a silver two years later in Paris in the same event.

ZAGREB, September 18, 2020 - Members of the Croatian Parliament on Friday supported the Council of Europe's Convention on an Integrated Approach to Safety, Security and Service at Football Matches and Other Sports Events. 

Presenting the document, the interior ministry's State-Secretary, Zarko Katic, said that incidents occurred too frequently at football matches as a consequence of poor security management at stadiums.

"Violence is on the rise both inside stadiums and outside as well as in city centres," Katic said.

The purpose of the Convention is to ensure that football and other sports events provide a safe, secure and welcoming environment for all individuals through the implementation of an integrated approach on safety, security and service at sports events by a plurality of actors working in a partnership amid an ethos of co-operation.

However, Marko Milanovic Litre of the Homeland Movement (DP) bench said that he saw the adoption of the Convention as the continuation of rigorous, unjust and discriminatory policies towards a social minority (football fan groups), who he said, demonstrated fairness and integrity and well as unselfish commitment at local and national levels. This DP deputy criticised the practice of keeping records of citizens who attend football events at stadiums as something that can undermine individual rights and freedoms.

the Council of Europe's Convention on an Integrated Approach to Safety, Security and Service at Football Matches and Other Sports Events, which was adopted in Saint-Denis on 3 July 2016, took effect on 1 November 2017.

To date 33 members of the Council of Europe have signed the document, and 16 of them have ratified it.

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July 30, 2020 - Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac, stated last night for HRT that a few months ago, no one could have imagined that the number of tourists would be as it is now.

Namely, HRT reports that 2.3 million tourist arrivals were recorded in July and nearly more than 16 million overnight stays were achieved. That is already a little more than 50% of the turnover compared to the same period last year. These are quite good results, and we have reason to be optimistic, said Brnjac.

It is unfair to say how much is expected from tourism, said Brnjac, referring to yesterday's statement when she said that Croatia could reach around 5 billion arrivals this year, which is half of last year's amount.

"We need to see the end of the tourist season. It is a good indicator that we have more than 760,000 guests today. The first Ministry of Tourism estimated that this year's result would be 30% compared to last year, but we already have about 40% to 45%, when looking at the overall level," adds Brnjac.

She confirmed that the tourist situation in the northern part of Croatia is better than in the south.

”Rovinj, Porec, Medulin, Crikvenica and Split are the destinations where guests are going to most. When we look at the southern destinations, we know that they are mostly related to air tourism. The Croatian National Tourist Board is working on promoting those countries from which guests come to Dubrovnik-Neretva County. It will also intensify its marketing activities. Precisely because of these marketing activities, we also see results. Croatia has recorded 92% of German tourists compared to last year, 91% of Slovenian tourists, followed by tourists from Austria, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic," said Brnjac.

Brnjac also pointed out that at yesterday's meeting with representatives of the tourism sector, she discussed future measures to maintain liquidity and recover the tourism system.

"In September, we will receive guidelines from the European Commission on how the development of an instrument for recovery and resilience will look. We want to be ready and that is why this meeting was organized. The next topic of the meeting was preparing financing from the new envelope of the multiannual financial framework and better positioning Croatian tourism."

Answering the question about who can count on this help, Minister Brnjac said that it refers to the entire tourism sector.

After four years, tourism in Croatia is seen as sustainable and green, as tourism that will work to extend the season, not only in the coastal area but also in the continental area. She also wants to develop nautical and health tourism. Brnjac's tourism development strategy will start in September, she said, stating that this should provide further guidance.

Brnjac also responded to criticisms related to her election to the position of Tourism Minister, considering she does not come from the tourism sector.

"I think that today, the tourism sector made clear how important it is for it to have an emphasis on the instrument of recovery and resilience and to position it as well as possible in the multi-year financial envelope, but also to position the entire tourism sector as well as possible."

Since Brnjac is also the Minister of Sport, she said that she "wants to give more importance to sports". She said that there was no need to explain to anyone the role sport and tourism play in the global promotion of Croatia.

"It is very important to emphasize that by investing in projects in sports and tourism, we get added value for a number of other departments - from transport to agriculture," concluded Brnjac.

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May 30, 2020 - The director of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (CNIPH), Krunoslav Capak, attended a session of the Health Commission of the Croatian Olympic Committee (COC) and spoke about returning sport to normal in Croatia. 

"You know yourself that in mid-May, with the easing of measures, we allowed training for top athletes. The football Cup will be played this weekend, and we also have pressure to let the fans into the stadiums. For now, however, this will not happen," said Capak on HRT, who also commented on the possibility of holding sports competitions indoors:

"Bowling and bowling competitions will start on June 12, and after that, we will consider the possibility of spectators in the stands."

The secretary of the COC Health Commission, the famous nutritionist Mimi Vurdelja, emphasized the agility of the members of the Commission in the beginnings of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We from the COC were the first to start making and sending recommendations to federations and clubs for the protection of athletes' health. I have to inform you that immediately after the appearance of the coronavirus, we received a number from Dr. Capak that athletes can call. We are very grateful to him for that."

Because the virus no longer circulates among us and that Croatia has one of the best epidemiological situations in the world, Dr. Capak spoke with a lot of optimism about the current epidemiological situation in the country, although he never lacks caution.

"We must still be careful because the virus is still there, and it can easily come to us from the outside. Due to tourist motives, we are currently the most open country in Europe, and the situation in our environment is not great - Germany, France, Spain, and hotspots in South America; all this suggests caution."

In addition to making continuous recommendations for preserving the health of athletes, the COC Health Commission intends, in cooperation with partners from the CNIPH, to initiate serology testing of Croatian Olympians and the development of an immunological health card of Olympic athletes. These are 64 individual top athletes and three men's national teams. Dr. Capak promised support in the implementation of the mentioned activities, which, according to the information of the secretary of the Commission, will bring savings of around 200,000 kuna.

The head of the CNIPH anti-doping service, Dr. Roman Latinović, reported that anti-doping testing of athletes in individual sports was launched on May 26, and that football competitions will also begin in team competition. He also reminded of the fact that his service is in the process of implementing the new anti-doping code of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The proposal of the Secretary-General of the Croatian Automobile and Karting Association, Zrinko Gregurek, was also considered. At a recent session of the COC Council, he introduced the COC's leading body to the foreign practice of installing the so-called tunnels for the disinfection of spectators of sporting events. Praising all the measures to protect people at sports competitions, doc. Dr. Dinko Pivalica said that, regardless of the external decontamination of those who enter, this method cannot eliminate asymptomatic phenomena.

Therefore, the COC Health Commission unanimously supported the conclusion of its president, Dr. Miran Martinac, who said:

"We consider this type of prevention desirable for all closed spaces, but experts should give the final word on this, i.e., epidemiologists, from whom we asked for an expert opinion."

At the end of the session, a proposal was agreed to hold a roundtable meeting on June 17, which should be attended by the Minister of Health in the Government of the Republic of Croatia Vili Beroš, CNIPH Director Krunoslav Capak, State Secretary of the Central State Office for Sports Tomislav Družak and COC President Zlatko Mateša in the role of host, but also a representative of WADA.

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Ever been to beautiful Lošinj? If you're a lover of athletics, running and other forms of active tourism when on holiday, then this is the Croatian destination for you, with a newly certified Run Friendly hotel tailored to your needs to prove it.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 13th of May, 2019, Lošinj's Vitality Hotel Punta has been awarded a Run Friendly certificate, meaning that the hotel is tailored to accommodate runners as well as other active tourists.

The certification process is run by the Zagreb-based company Run Croatia, and Lošinj's Hotel Punta owned by the hotel company Lošinj Hotels & Villas is one of the few Croatian hotels that can boast of holding this certificate.

Lošinj's Vitality Hotel Punta has satisfied all of the necessary conditions to meet the standards of the process of certification to be declared a Run Friendly hotel and has been given the highest possible categorisation (three tennis shoes).

This means that all of this Lošinj hotel's visitors can enjoy a number of benefits as a supplement to the usual hotel offer within its Run Friendly package. This type of hotel is fully tailored to the needs of runners, and guests are entitled to the aforementioned Run Friendly package that includes a high quality running t-shirt, a medal as a reward for running the tracks around the hotel, a racetrack map, a variety of running tours for beginners all the way to those requiring advanced programs, healthy food and drinks at the mini bar, energy bars, late checkout opportunities, and special massage programs.

In addition to all the advantages, the island of Lošinj as a destination itself offers a number of attractive racing tracks for all running level abilities within a beautiful landscape with a sea view, numerous vistas and pretty coves.

"With the concept of a run-friendly hotel, we wish to provide our guests, especially those who prefer an active holiday, with additional convenience to spend an ideal active outdoor holidayin the perfect untouched nature outdoors. All recreants and runners staying in our hotel will find the ideal conditions and hotel treatment fully adapted to their lifestyle,'' said Rikardo Hesky, director of Jadranka hotels.

Because of its own special microclimate, Lošinj itself is an ideal place for sports activities with its clean, pure air which is additionally enriched with aromatic Mediterranean flora.

"By launching the Run Friendly hotel certification project, we were aiming to provide added value to hotels as well as to runners as we recognised the value of this international trend - an active lifestyle and active holidays. The Run Friendly package for hotels offers guests everything they need to run and a peaceful island location is yet another reason for them to spend their time on holiday actively and take a step forward for their psychological and physical health,'' stated Berislav Sokač from Run Croatia.

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For the first time in history, Croatia will have a national program or sports strategy, which will be used for the next eight years and should improve and solve the many problems athletes and staff have faced for years, reports Gol.hr on January 30, 2019. 

The Action Plan prescribes six general and 20 specific objectives that include 66 measures and 155 activities that would reduce the number of disadvantages in Croatian sport over the next eight years.

Eight workshops were held to create the document, in which almost 400 sports workers from all counties were involved.

"It addresses a number of problems, has six goals which look after the system of competitive, school sports and sports recreation or health-focused physical exercise. The objectives for financing sports highlights matching investment for sports with the comparable EU Member States, it talks about tax incentives for sports concerning investment in sports and tax relief for the athletes and the clubs themselves. It also speaks about the criteria, categorization and evaluation of sports and about financing according to success, the sport, and other criteria. This document also deals with the athletes themselves, their rights, on aligning their education and sports careers, on unique scholarships, pension and health. It also talks about staying in sports, about the professional staff, about licensing and investing in the education of trainers,” said Krešimir Šamija, deputy state secretary for sport.

As expected, the strategy also features sports infrastructure and it having more qualitative or perhaps more intelligent investments.

But apart from improving professional sports, what is perhaps most important, if the proposals from this strategy are adopted, is that sport would be much more accessible to children in Croatia, and more affordable for their parents. Namely, it is incredible that more than 60 percent of Croats are entirely inactive. 

After a public discussion and the harmonization of all stakeholders, the document will go to the Government. The Ministry of Finance and Science, Education and Sports should be most active in its implementation. In the end, the national strategy will be adopted by the Parliament for eight years. With the strategy, Croatia will also have a new Law on Sports.

“It is already being drafted and will be fully harmonized with the measures from the national strategy," Šamija noted.

Athletes in Croatia have been waiting for this for more than 20 years. 

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