Croatia Makes Sports Legend Minister in Populist Move

Janica Kostelic (in the middle), while winning the gold medal on winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002. Photo: Janica Kostelic official website.

A decision to name famous skiing legend Janica Kostelic as the new assistant to the science, education and sports minister, Predrag Sustar, is seen as a populist move of little political consequence.

Kostelic confirmed on Monday that she will be the assistant minister responsible for sports in the new centre-right government.

“I accepted this job because after a sports career I want otherwise to contribute to sport in Croatia, especially to the aspect of sport and youth,” she said, noting that a lot of people had asked her why she was not more involved in sports in some way.

“I hope that in my efforts in a new role I’ll have broad support and that I get the chance to give back to sports and Croatia what sports and Croatia have given and done for me,” she added.

Dea Redzic, editor at the Croatian news website Index, who has followed Croatian sports for years, expressed doubts about what Kostelic could achieve in her new role, however.

Redzic told BIRN that state officials should have professional qualifications or university degrees to undertake their duties, which is not the case with Kostelic.

“This is a sort of compromise decision and a continuation of practice of giving deserving athletes positions in government, thus ‘buying’ public sympathy. I would say this is a kind of populist decision,” she said.

Redzic said that despite Kostelic’s successes in sports, it was not clear how much knowledge and expertise she had to address the serious problems in sport.

She explained that such problems include the “creation of a legal framework for sport”.

There have been similar examples of such appointments in the past in Croatia. Former basketball player Petar Skansi served as assistant in the same ministry in the former government. Former basketball, water polo, handball and martial arts players and coaches have become MPs in Croatia from 2003 onwards.

Similar examples exist in the region as well. Former water polo player Vanja Udovicki became Serbia’s sports and youth minister in September 2013.

Political analyst Davor Gjenero told BIRN that while the latest move was “probably meant to gain public sympathies”, the nomination of a star as a sports ministers was fairly “irrelevant in terms of the government in general.

“For the government, the crucial sectors are connected to the economy, finances and, of course, science and education. Sports are not that relevant,” he said.

“No one expects Kostelic to solve major problems in sports”, such as its legal framework and corruption issues, he added.

Kostelic is returning to the spotlight for the first time since she retired in 2007, aged 25, due to health reasons.

In a nine-year professional career, she won six gold and two silver Olympic medals, as well as five gold medals in the world skiing championships and three skiing cups.

She is considered the best Croatian female professional athlete in history and US sports magazine Sports Illustrated named her the 13th best female athlete of the decade in 2009.

She also became trademark of the emerging consumer society, becoming the brand “face” of popular natural water drink Jana, produced by one of the largest private companies in Croatia, Agrokor.

Often battling health problems, following ten knee surgeries and thyroid surgery, Kostelic often surpassed her limits, becoming a nationwide symbol of perseverance and success.

Both she and her brother Ivica, a four-time Olympic silver medal winner, emerged from a strict upbringing and training at the hands of their father Ante, a former professional athlete himself.

When they achieved their first professional results, Ante’s strict training and their own will power were seen as the main reasons for their success. The state did not support them, with skiing then being seen as more of a recreational sport in Croatia.

She and her brother were criticised, however, when it was revealed in 2003 that they were not paying taxes in Croatia, but in the tax haven of Monte Carlo, like many other professional athletes.