(Zaman Al Wasl)- Many athletes had joined the Syrian revolution soon after its start, 20 football player were killed with by regime forces, 2 of the were killed under torture in regime’s prisons. 13 detainees still missing, added to dozens of wounded and martyrs of under-18 year old athletes. Not to mention that regime has turned stadiums into military airports, prisons and military barracks.
Defected athletes tried to form bodies or unions to organise their activities and find talented athletes, but the opposition’s sport activities suffer dispersion and disorganisation.
Anas Ammo, a sport journalist mentioned that many activists tried to form facebook pages as Unions for football and assigned themselves as trustees over athletes which caused big chaos, as the matter was upside down usually, athletes who form the unions not the other way round.
Corruption, especially financial, that went without any accountability, is another reason for deterioration of sport level of the Syrian opposition.
The journalist mentioned that no opposition sport union or body had done election within the 5 years of revolution. All they are interested in has been the financial support they receive, and staying in their positions they obtained at the time of forming the sport unions.
Ammo, the former member of the media committee of Ettihad, the Aleppo’s club, and was responsible for Public Relations, added that first sort of corruption was seen in the Liberated Athletes Committee, then it continued to include the General Authority of Sport and Youth, the first sport body formed inside Syria August 2013, but till now no election or resignation were seen since 2013.
Many football players had withdrawn from the Authority February 2016, because it was not able to manage the team and help in improving it.
Ammo mentioned that many cases of corruption were documented, but no investigation or accountability were one to punish committers, which forced the team to separate itself from the Association.
In regard to reasons behind the failure of opposition sport bodies and association is lack of financial transparency within these body as everyone hides its records from others.
Moreover, according to th sport journalist, is lack of administration skills, as the majority of managers and directors have no certificate or experience in administrative work, added to the fact that no one of them was former or recent athletes or have scientific certificate in sport.
Ammo was expressed his surprise to have 7 opposition sport body, no one of them has a vision or a plan or strategy to improve the sport level. The sport body are: Association of Liberated Syrian Athletes, General Authority of Sport and youth, Athletes for Syria, the Syrian Olympic Committee, the Authority of Sport Rehabilitation, Liberated Athletes Committee, the Free Syrian Union. 4 of these bodies were formed in Turkey, non of them showed interest in improving sport in neighbouring countries like Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
Ammo finished that the problem is not only in having so many sport bodies, but the conflict among them and each one claims itself the only representative of the Liberated athletes.
On the other hand, a member of the General Authority of Sport and Youth talked on condition of anonymity, expressed his surpise for highlighting the issue as if it is restricted to the Authority, no bodies has clean record.
He presented documents showing achievements of athletes belong to the authority like having a gold, a silver and 4 bronze medals on al-Balkan competition of Kung fu, adde to a bronze medal in Luxemburg competition of Karate, and a gold medal in Doha long distance competition of Swimming.
Moreover, the member mentioned that the Authority organise the sport even in al-Waer neighbourhood in Homs, and Eastern Ghouta festival
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