President of the Catalan Federation remains optimist

The president of the Catalan Federation, Ramon Basiana, has expressed his optimism about the recognition of Catalonia as a full member of the FIRS: “We will have to see whether the different countries have been honest or just have said yes to both federations (the Catalan and the Spanish)
Basiana, who is in Fresno since last Sunday, thinks that: “It is this optimism and hopes what has brought us here”. According to Basiana, the provisional admission of Catalonia last March, was taken within the legality of the FIRS and therefore there shouldn’t be any reason why the Spanish appeal should be filed.
Surprisingly Basiana believes that the recognition of Catalonia would also be beneficial for Spain since: “there would be more sportsmen and resources that would eventually represent the Spanish kingdom, some with the Spanish federation and some with the Catalan federation. I know it might be hard to understand from a political point of view, but this shouldn’t be a political issue but a sportive one.”

In addition, Basiana has criticised the Spanish Olympic Committee COE, for their decision of starting a disciplinary action against the president of the FIRS, Oliveras de la Riva: “instead of trying to start a dialog between both sides the COE have decided to discipline a man who has done loads for the world of roller sport in the past years. It does not surprise me though, since they also started a disciplinary on me just for expressing my opinions”
Basiana believes that a possible game Spain v Catalonia would hugely benefit the world of roller hockey as it would be comparable to other big rivalry games such as England v Scotland or Barca v Madrid.

Finally, thinks that it would be a real shame if Oliveras resigns as result of the no admission of Catalonia as he has been a real asset for the world of roller sports and has made enormous steps in its final recognition as an Olympic discipline.


Source: Europa Press