Athletes from the Republic of Moldova and Romania have close ties established through the agency of agreements between the sports authorities and federations, the head of the International Relations and Marketing Department of the National Olympic and Sports Committee Vladislav Vyrtos stated in a public debate hosted by IPN.
“The National Olympic and Sports Committee of the Republic of Moldova and the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee have a cooperation agreement established over 20 years ago and this is a multiannual one. This year, it was signed on January 27, 2023 and is valid until December 2025. The interconnection between the two Committees has been permanent, also because many athletes from the Republic of Moldova went and represented Romania,” said Vladislav Vyrtos.
He noted that today there are connections between federations and committees and also between athletes who exchange experience and learn good practices. “This cooperation is a big advantage. We speak the same language, have the same culture and go to the same international conferences. We intact with the Romanian side and help each other,” stated Vladislav Vtrtos.
According to him, one of the big accomplishments of the cooperation between the two Committees is the agreement to allow Moldovan athletes to train at Romanian training camps, on condition that training is common. “For example, most of the training in swimming takes place at the Olympic training center in Snagov. The wrestlers go to Brasov. There are three-four sports events in the Republic of Moldova, which are closely tied to training centers of Romania. Based on this agreement, we pay only for food and transport. These costs are minimal against the total real costs. The Romanians lent us a hand,” said the head of the International Relations and Marketing Department.
He noted that to improve things in the sports sector, the authorities should strengthen the associations and the National Olympic and Sports Committee. The clubs should be able to finance themselves and it will be easier for the central authorities to manage the sector this way and they will focus rather on policies.
Vladislav Vyrtos also said that the infrastructure is a painful subject both for athletes and for the authorities as these realize that the sports buildings are in a very bad state and large investments are needed to restore most of the sports centers and to this way promote mass sports.
The public debate entitled “Moldovan-Romanian cooperation in sports sector, opened opportunities” was staged in the framework of the project “Double integration through cooperation and information”, which is implemented by IPN News Agency with support from the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova of the Government of Romania. The content of this article does not represent the official position of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova.
