Kosovo celebrates one year anniversary of IOC Executive Board recognition

Kosovo Olympic Committee President Besim Hasani is leading the first anniversary celebrations of the country receiving IOC recognition ©Besim Hasani/Facebook

Celebrations are taking place today to mark the first anniversary of Kosovo's recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board, a decision which has acted as a catalyst to revolutionise the sporting ambitions of the Balkan Republic.

It is hoped a squad of up to 10 athletes will now attend next summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Kosovo formally declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after years of conflict.

They have been supported by much of the Western world and recognised by 111 of the 193 United Nations (UN) members, but still not a UN member itself due opposition from Russia and China, as well as Serbia.

UN membership is usually taken as a requirement for IOC recognition, even though the Olympic Charter defines a "country" as "an independent state recognised by the international community".

The IOC's ruling Executive Board ruled last year, however, during its meeting in Montreux that Kosovo "met the requirements for recognition as outlined in the Olympic Charter",

The decision was unanimously ratified by the full IOC membership at the Extraordinary General Assembly in Monte Carlo in December.

Considering the vast political hurdles negated, many have cited this as the biggest achievement of Thomas Bach's tenure as IOC President so far.

The decision has led to international recognition from several other bodies, with football now the only sport in which Kosovo has a National Federation yet to be recognised by either the world or European governing body.

Thomas Bach met the Kosovan President Atifete Jahjaga during his visit to the Republic in April ©ITG

The International Cycling Union, International Tennis Federation and European Athletics Association are among those to have granted recognition in recent weeks.

A special dinner will be held this evening at the Hotel Emerald in Pristina to mark the landmark in Kosovo's history.

"We want to celebrate the anniversary of this historical day because it was the day we achieved our dream that we were seeking for 22 years, when athletes didn't have the opportunity to participate internationally," long-standing Kosovan Olympic Committee (KOC) President Besim Hasani told insidethegames today.

He singled out Bach as "a man with an open-minded visionary attitude who favoured athletes over politics" - as well as other key allies, including IOC director for National Olympic Committee Relations Pere Miró and International Boxing Association President and IOC Executive Board member, C K Wu.

"We don't want to let them down," said Hasani.

"We want to use even more of their energy to continue to work as hard as possible in order to achieve what we lost for many years."

Kosovo received its official invitation to compete in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next year in August ©Besim Hasani/Facebook

It is hoped between three and four Kosovan athletes will automatically qualify for next year's Games, including two-time world judo champion Majlinda Kelmendi, who returned from a succession of injury problems to win under 52kg gold at last weekend's Paris Grand Slam.

She was forced to represent Albania at London 2012, only to be knocked out in her opening bout.

Nora Gjakova is another major contender in judo having won bronze in the under 57kg division at the European Games in Baku earlier this year.

Interestingly, the team's other great judo hope, Distria Krasniqi, fights in the same under 52kg division as Kelmendi, so may now drop down in weight to the under 48kg event.

Under 81kg boxer Armend Xhoxhak is another possible qualifier for RIo 2016.

Kosovo also hope they will given wildcards in several sports, including athletics, swimming and wrestling.

Hasani will next week travel to Washington D.C. to attend the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees, where Kosovo is set to be upgraded from a provisional to a full member.

Two-time world judo champion Majlinda Kelmendi is Kosovo's best hope of a gold medal at Rio 2016, having been forced to compete for neighbouring Albania at London 2012, when she was knocked out in the first round ©Getty Images

Challenges still remain, however.

Kosovo has complained to the IOC about the reluctance of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (ICMG) to accept it as a member.

An Extraordinary General Assembly of the body is due to take place on October 30 in the American capital, where it is expected Kosovo will be confirmed as a member and permitted to take part in the 2017 Games in Tarragona, Spain.

A "clear message" which warned against discriminating against athletes from particular countries was a resolution from last weekend's Olympic Summit in Lausanne, a key gathering of leading stakeholders chaired by Bach, with organising committees facing being stripped of events if they do not do follow this.

Kosovo and Israel are also currently experiencing difficulties in entering next month's World Junior and Cadet and Under-21 Karate Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, with discussions still ongoing.

It is hoped Kosovo will be confirmed as a member of European football's governing body UEFA at its Congress in Budapest next March, with full FIFA membership possible after that following the granting of limited recognition last year.