Faroe Islands' Olympic Quest Gains Ally

(ATR) The Faroe Islands campaign for Olympic recognition receives the backing of the Swedish Olympic Committee on Wednesday.

Sweden joins the NOCs of Denmark, Iceland and Norway in supporting the efforts of the Faroese Confederation of Sports and Olympic Committee (FCSOC).

"I would like to thank the Swedish Olympic Committee for its support in our campaign for Olympic status," said FCSOC Vice President Jon Hestoy in a statement.

"With Tokyo 2020 fast approaching, the coming months provide an important opportunity for us to show why the Faroe Islands deserve Olympic recognition."

The Faroes, a self-governing region of Denmark, launched its latest campaign to get into the Olympics in March of 2018. If it succeeds, it would be the culmination of an ambition that is 40 years old.

"We are founding members of the International Paralympic Committee and have competed in every summer Paralympics since 1984. All we are asking for is a similar opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games," Hestoy says.

"Moreover, the Faroe Islands is already recognized by eight Intentional Federations including FIFA, and we are in active discussions with a number of other major IFs to gain membership. Our campaign has momentum, logic and a huge amount of goodwill behind it and we look forward to further constructive talks with the Olympic family so we can realize our dream."

An FCSOC delegation, including Hestoy, met in December 2018 in Lausanne with IOC Director of NOC Relations Pere Miró, IOC Head of Institutional Relations & Governance Jérôme Poivey, Danish NOC President Niels Nygaard and EOC secretary general Raffaele Pagnozzi.

Hestoy told Around the Rings in January that the subject of IOC recognition for the Faroes was discussed at length in what he calls "a really frank exchange of our views of these things". And while Hestoy admitted then that the IOC’s position to keep the Faroes out of the Olympics remains unchanged, he says his team came out of the meeting with the feeling that while the "deadlock hasn’t opened up" it is starting to move.

The Faroes are one of 17 member associations bidding to host one of the UEFA national team youth final tournaments in 2021 and 2022. The tournaments in question are the men's and women's U19 and U17 European Championships.The UEFA Executive Committee will decide the winning bids on Sept. 24 during a meeting in Slovenia.

Written by Gerard Farek

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