The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Education and Sports, Evis Kushi, the President of the NOC, Fidel Ylli, the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, diplomatic representatives of the Algerian Embassy, athletes, coaches of the Olympic team, representatives of the NOC and sports federations, athletes’ families and business representatives.

After handing over the national flag to the two flag-bearers, Minister Kushi stressed that Albania has already risen to a new level in sports, with more successes, more medals, more respect and dignity.

“The Albanian government has shown support during these years to athletes in general, and elite athletes in particular, who represent us with dignity in the international arena,” the minister underlined.

Kushi stressed that she is proud of the recent changes to the DCM “On the criteria, manner of reward and treatment of athletes who are eligible for the high-level status and their coaches,” which provides for the reward of individual sports athletes, categories “adults” and “young people,” who achieve results in international activities.

Further, she added that the World Cup, the Conference League Final, the European Weightlifting Championship, will be followed by many more.

According to her, these events contribute to the promotion of Albania, to the development of tourism and the Albanian economy.

The two major events, the Conference Cup and the 100th European Weightlifting Championship proved that infrastructure investments offer an excellent potential to welcome prestigious international activities, which undoubtedly translate into economic benefits for the country.
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