26 March 2019 - Minister of Sports and Youth Nikola Janović said that the last night's football match between Montenegro and England, which has been seen as a sports festival in the country, is trying to be presented as sports game that contained incidents, but there has never been, and there will be no basis for racism, chauvinism, and nationalism in Montenegro.
"If a group of individuals really sent inexplicable messages, I strongly condemn it on behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Sports and Youth, and I say that there is no and there can be neither justification nor understanding in Montenegro for those people. As a former sports player, athlete and now as a Minister, during conversations with the foreign public I say that in my country there has never been, and there will be no basis for racism, chauvinism, and nationalism," Minister Janović stressed.
The Minister recalled that Montenegro is a civilized state, the only one that has gone through the horrors of the nineties without a war on its territory, the only one in the neighborhood that genuinely and thoroughly has been cherishing multi-ethnic and multi-confessional life for centuries.
"Our clubs and our national teams, our Government, our cities and villages and our families are the fortresses of the richness of our diversity. The spirit of my country was shown in a carnival atmosphere in which this match and the previous matches were awaited in the streets of our capital city both by domestic and foreign fans, applauding the anthem and the visiting team's players even when they scored. As well as the mutual joy after the match without any incident," Minister of Sports and Youth Nikola Janović emphasised.
