It was quite a busy week for Croatian sport, here are the highlights for the first week of March
Instead of our weekly review, which will be our regular article every Monday here on TCN, last week we introduced new Croatian minister of education, science and sport, Mr. Predrag Šustar. He surprised the Croatian public with his views on Croatian football, and conveniently, he traveled to Split just couple of days after that. He was promoting new school reform, and being in Split, he was expected to answer some questions about sport, as his opinions on the matter raised eyebrows all around, but no questions were allowed. We tried to contact him, and have sent him some questions, but we are still waiting for the answers.
Croatian futsal clubs played their round and had a meeting with the Croatian Football Federation officials. They were promised that their opinions will be taken into consideration, so their boycott is delayed, for the time being. One of the best clubs, Futsal Dinamo asked Zagreb’s City Mayor to solve their venue problem for home games. They were also promised that their problem will be resolved, it remains to be seen whether either of those promises will be kept.
Ivica Olić retired from international football, and Croatian football clubs played a weekday round with no surprises in regards to final scores. Dinamo is still the main contender for the title, but again some questions about referees were made, especially as Rijeka games are in question.
On the weekend, we got great news regarding the future of our skiing, as Croatia got its first junior World Champion ever. Ivica Kostelić finished his season, and even though we all expected that he will announce his retirement after the race in Kranjska Gora, he said he is still not ready to make this decision, and will take some more time to think about it.
Croatian football teams continued their competition on the weekend, but one game was postponed due to weather conditions, raising questions about the stadium licensing process in the Croatian Football Federation. There was a players strike in FC Split, once again proving something is rotten in this football organization. As two more games are to be played, we will bring you the round review after Inter and Hajduk finish their game on Tuesday.
To end the week on a happy note, Sunday brought us great news of Sandra Perković getting the season best in Split, and of at least 11 Croatian athletes qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics. Great news keeps arriving from the Premier League too, as Slaven Bilić is proving to be a success in London, getting a lot of respect for the way he manages West Ham, getting some love even from celebrities.
Last but not least, Croatian Davis Cup Team traveled to Belgium, to play the Davis Cup World Group first round match. After more or less expected results on Friday, and crucial doubles win on Saturday, Marin Čilić lost his second singles match but Borna Čorić secured an overall win for Croatia. They will now play against the US Davis Cup team in the next round in July, a team that Croatia never lost to.
