Sinanović and Delić represent BiH at World Association of Sports Journalists Congress

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The 83rd Congress of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) is being held at the Corinthia Hotel in Budapest from February 3 to 6.

The congress is a top-notch organized event with competent guests, excellent panels, discussions, and promotions.

Among others, presentations were given by Sebastian Coe, President of the International Athletics Federation, JJ Rowland from the European Handball Federation, representatives of FINA, the International Federation of Swimming, FISU - the International University Sports Federation... One of the special topics at the Congress was the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. 

It was stated at the Congress that the position of sports journalists is increasingly endangered, especially in transition countries. 

Some powerful figures in clubs and federations want to control what the media publishes, exerting pressure through the issuance or non-issuance of accreditation, which affects the credibility and freedom of expression of the "seventh estate". It was concluded that journalists have the task of remaining committed to the truth and informing the public while respecting the principles of the profession.

At the panel "Investigative Journalism", Brazilian journalist Jamil Chade spoke about corruption in Brazilian sports, about abuses during the organization of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Argentinian journalist Sebastian Ignacio Torok revealed facts about match-fixing in tennis.

As a prelude to the Congress, a formal award ceremony for the annual awards of the International Association of Sports Journalists (AIPS) was held.

The award for the best sports journalism work in 2019 was won by Briton Susanne Wrack from The Guardian for a series of articles on the sexual abuse of young female footballers by the president of the Afghan Football Federation. 

While receiving the award, Wrack expressed gratitude to the victims, five of them, who agreed to share their story despite the dangers and threats faced by young female athletes in Afghanistan. 

In this category, second place was won by Jeremy Wilson from the Daily Telegraph for his writing on scandals in rugby, and third place by Iranian Zahra Aliee, who wrote about the historic entry of Iranian women as spectators into the Azadi football stadium in Tehran. 

The award for best photojournalist went to Colombian Juan Arboleda (AFP), while the award for best column went to Nepali Praywal Oli, who explained that there are as many as 200 registered national sports federations in Nepal, even though barely 50 sports are practiced in the country.

Americans Bob Hohler and Andrew Ryan from The Boston Globe received the award for best audio feature.

The best video feature was by American Andrew Leibmann, the best young journalist is Moroccan Hamza Ait Messaoud, and the photojournalist is Mattia Ozbott from Italy.

Each of the winners also received a cash prize of eight thousand US dollars, while the second and third place winners in each category received three and two thousand dollars respectively. A total of 1754 nominations for awards were received from 125 countries.

A special lifetime achievement award was given to the 93-year-old Spaniard Jose Maria Lorente, who has been actively involved in sports journalism for 70 years and recently published a book about AIPS. 

The AIPS ceremony was hosted by legendary British triple jumper Jonathan Edwards, and a special guest was FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who, accompanied by AIPS President Gianni Merlo, answered questions from sports journalists from around the world. Infantino also announced the limitation of the influence of managers and agents in world football. 

"At this moment, the football player transfer system generates as much as 7.6 billion dollars in value, and the regulation and control of these transfers are minimal. I guarantee that in any of the transfers, the police and tax authorities could find irregularities, illogicalities, tax evasion, and even more serious criminal offenses. We are witnessing managers representing both the club and the player in the same transfer, which is inexplicable. We must try to cleanse football of such people," said Infantino. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina was represented at the AIPS congress by Sinan Sinanović (Sportske.ba) and Emir Delić (Al Jazeera Balkans), members of the Executive Board of SEESJA (South East European Sports Journalists Association). 
Candidates for the organization of the next AIPS Congress are Milan and Seoul.