IOC President meets with Olympic Committee of Serbia representatives in Belgrade

Olympic Committee of Serbia President Vlade Divac alongside IOC head Thomas Bach in Belgrade ©IOC/Ian Jones

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has paid a historic visit to Belgrade to meet Olympic Committee of Serbia head Vlade Divac as well as local youngsters and members of the wider Serbian sporting community.

In what marked the first official visit to the Balkan region by a serving IOC President in 31 years, the German spoke at a meeting of all 38 national sporting federations, praising the progress made by the nation which sent a 115-strong team to London 2012.

Bach particularly pointed out the fact that the OCS is the only National Olympic Committee to their knowledge of which the top four positions - President, secretary general and two vice-presidents - are all held by former athletes.

"I am very pleased to be here today with my colleagues because we wanted to show how much we appreciate the sport in Serbia," he said.

"From the Beijing Olympic Games to the London Olympic Games Serbia climbed more than 20 places in the ranking of nations, and this great success is the result of [the] serious work of the national sports federations."

"The IOC is happy to have the opportunity to support this work and I thank President Divac who recognizes the assistance that the IOC provides athletes in Serbia.

"I hope that the team of Serbia at Rio 2016 achieves even greater success than in London."

Image title — Thomas Bach meeting representatives from national sporting federations in Serbia ©OCM

Bach then continued his visit by journeying to a local elementary school to see the "EcOlympics Serbia" project first hand, a scheme funded by Olympic Solidarity through its "promotion of the Olympic values" programme.

This aims to educate school children about the importance of environmental preservation, healthy and active lifestyles, social responsibility and volunteerism.

Before departing for Kosovan capital Pristina, Bach also addressed the controversial issue of Kosovan membership of the IOC, which was formally approved last December at the IOC Session in Monte Carlo, despite opposition in Serbia, which still refuses to recognise Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008

He emphasised that, whatever the political factors at stake, the autonomy of sport must be preserved and they must prioritise boosting opportunities for all athletes.