In a long statement on Instagram, athlete Luiza Gega explained the reasons why she decided not to participate in the European Championships of Nations, which takes place tomorrow in Slovenia, one of the most important activities for the Albanian Athletics Federation.
“Today it seemed like I was the only one in Tirana, the streets were so empty,” Luiza begins her post. “In fact, as a rule, I should be in Slovenia right now because the day after tomorrow the European Championship of Nations is being held, where we participate in the third division, the last division unfortunately, because it is one of the most important activities of our Federation.”
Gega explains that this championship does not award medals, but points for the country's ranking:
"It works this way, there are no medals, there are simply rankings where athletes try to position themselves as best as possible at the end of the race to give their country as many points as possible, because the 2 countries that accumulate the most points move up a division and so on."
Being in shape after the national championship, Luiza had thought of helping the Albanian team:
“After the national championship, since it went very well and with little training, I said 'why not help the team?', since it is very easy for me to win in this division because it is the division of weak countries.”
But the way the trip was organized for this event made him withdraw:
"When I saw how little seriousness was taken in going to this event, I decided to withdraw, because most of the delegation would go by bus, so they would have to travel 20 hours and then compete. I was brought back to myself 20 years ago, where my last trip by bus was. Not that there is anything wrong with going by bus, but it is very tiring and more than 10 hours of travel is exhausting for an athlete to get the most out of the competition."
Luiza recalls that this activity takes place every two years and Albania had a historic ranking in the last edition:
"2 years ago, because this activity is held once every two years, we managed to place 7th, it was the best ranking we've ever had and I thought 'why not?', maybe this year we'll manage to position ourselves even better."
Further, she calls the behavior of the current president of the federation, Izmir Smajlaj, very disappointing:
"It was very disappointing because the moment the president came, he said 'the first thing I'm going to do is support athletes, because I was an athlete myself' and the first thing he does is bring you back here 20 years ago. Then he writes a 'don't forget the uniforms'."
The problem was not only about the mode of transportation, but also absurd discussions about providing uniforms for athletes:
"While he hasn't bought any uniforms, the only uniforms we've had are from 2 years ago, which my coach bought out of pocket, because of course when a president comes to power, the first thing he does is make a change. And the president has to pay out of pocket when it's not possible to buy with the Federation's funds. Because a president does this, he has to be ready, even financially, to take over a federation."
Finally, Gega concludes the statement with a clear and personal message:
"That's why not everyone can become president, even if I can't do it today for 1,2,3,4 reasons. I really hope things change because it's unfortunate. Not for me, I've said it, I've gotten more out of this sport than I ever dreamed of, but for the generations to come."
