2024-09-17 10:56:25
With over 150 events a year in the foundation’s program, new proposals kept pouring in. “Sofia – the European capital of sports” gives great faith
Dimitar Shalafov has a master’s degree in law. Municipal councilor in Sofia with a mandate of 2023-2027. In 2024, he was elected chairman of the permanent committee for children, youth and sports of the Metropolitan City Council. Shalafov is also the new chairman of the “Sofia – European capital of sports” foundation.
– Mr. Shalafov, many people know you as a lawyer, but there are already opinions about good news and a victory for sports in Sofia, since a person who loves and is connected to sports has stood at the head of the “Sofia – European capital of sports” foundation, as well as of the committee for children, youth and sports in the Metropolitan City Council. What would you say about your love for sport and what goals you have set for its development in the capital?
– You are right that I am a lawyer by education and profession, a lawyer by profession. But sport is part of my whole life. I was involved in football in my childhood years, then I became a professional football referee, but unfortunately,
a drunk driver hit me
on a footpath
and that ended it
my judicial career
Today, road safety is also my priority.
My wife’s side of the family is from elite athletes. My wife Dani Naydenova is a volleyball player. So I’m a person who loves sports, it’s always been a part of me. I have been surrounded by athletes all my life, I know all the hardships, joys and pains that come with professional sports. Therefore, my intention is to support this activity and the people who practice it with everything I can, including as a lawyer.
With joint efforts with colleagues from different groups in the Metropolitan Municipal Council, we achieved a significant victory –
was doubled
the sports budget
for this year. The most noticeable is the increase in funding under the “Sports for high achievements” program, supporting children’s and youth sports and the clubs that are building future great champions for Bulgaria on the territory of the capital. The budget for this program increased by over 1 million BGN. I have made it my goal to fight for an even bigger budget for sports every year, because this is the best investment, an investment in the health of our children. You see what results our athletes achieve, regardless of the difficult conditions. Our society has a duty to fight for better conditions for our current and future heroes. Sofia does it and will continue to do it, I hope, even more successfully.
– What are your goals and priorities as the chairman of the “Sofia – European capital of sports” foundation?
– Our goals for this year are to fulfill with content the title given to us by the Association of European Cities and Capitals of Sport. Sofia is the World Capital of Sports for 2024. We have already realized over 100 sports events. Every day we continue to implement new and new events from the calendar, we find new partners with whom to do various events related to mass sports. Our goals are to continue to develop grassroots sports in the capital and to help elite sports as much as we can, of course. Although my personal opinion is that, in the end, elite sport is the prerogative of the state. This, of course, does not mean that we are not doing absolutely everything in our power to support this direction as well. The most important thing is that through our activity we do our best to fill with meaning one of the main missions of sport – to be an example of a healthy lifestyle and prevention of negative phenomena in life.
– For more than a decade, young people playing sports, students, sports teams, organizations developing sports, and elite athletes have relied on the foundation to realize small and bigger dreams. How quickly did you personally realize how much sports people in the capital rely on the organization you lead?
– The faith that “Sofia – the European capital of sports” gives to people who love this phenomenon, which ensures a healthy lifestyle, is great and visible. I actually understood it fully at the moment when the general assembly where I was elected was being held – when the program of events was being presented. With a program of over 150 events for the year, inquiries continued to pour in to organize additional and create new partnerships. It becomes clear to a person very quickly that this is an organization that has built lasting relationships with all institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations, private individuals who deal with the cause of “Sport” in the capital. The foundation has definitely earned its reputation as the best friend for sports lovers, but also for those implementing various youth activities in Sofia.
– You work closely with Anatoli Iliev – the main driver of the foundation in the past 10 years. And you certainly gain experience. What do you like most about what you have done so far and what do you aim to develop further?
– We are currently working with Anatoli Iliev and Damian Dikov, who is the executive director of the foundation. In reality, Damian is the person who manages the processes. As I like to joke, I’m just the chairman of the board, just a worker, but really the boss is the executive director who makes the operational decisions. It is an honor and a pleasure to work with all colleagues from the management board, because each one is permanently committed to sports. And I think that as a team of 13 people plus the people at the foundation we will continue to work well for the sake of the sport and the people who love it.
Organizing sports events is not as easy as it seems from the outside. Any event requires quite a bit of human effort and organization, which people often tend to overlook before they have taken a closer look. It wasn’t such a surprise to me, since I myself have been involved in sports and its organization in some form. But it’s still another thing to roll up your sleeves yourself and start dealing with the organization of events as numerous and as diverse as sports.
As I mainly have experience in team sports like soccer and volleyball, on the specifics of other sports and related events I certainly need help and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Because our work in the name of sports lovers and sportsmen in Sofia is a collective sport. And I can say that a strong team is fighting for this common important cause of ours.
***
The foundation is proud of numerous and diverse events realized as part of the calendar of “Sofia – European Capital of Sports”.
SEE PICTURES OF SOME OF THEM
