“For small markets, which is what we Slovenians have been and will continue to be for at least a few more centuries, side roles are reserved in this large circus,” journalist Igor Bergant wrote in the newspaper Tribuna (Tribune) in 1991 and tried to influence the course of Slovenia’s independence through sports “arguments.” He tried to frighten everyone by saying that Slovenian sports would now be classified in the same category as certain African “exotics” and announced that certain sports would barely be able to get by due to the European cellar quality.
Just as the public media outlet RTV likes to fabricate Slovenian history, they also conveniently forgot to mention that in the months before Slovenia gained its independence, their journalist Igor E. Bergant was on the side that would now rank him among the traitors or those who were on the wrong side of history. Namely, he was against the independent state of Slovenia, and he justified this with misguided theses about the catastrophe that would happen to Slovenian sport in the secession from the common state of Yugoslavia.
Thus, Igor Bergant announced the tragic scenarios for Slovenian sports in the newspaper Tribuna, as late as in 1991, when the country was already on its way to independence, and thus, he joined many on the left who opposed the independence in the media. As a sports journalist, Bergant decided to blaze his own path.
The successes of Slovenian athletes in the last 30 years have overshadowed Bergant’s empty threats
It is interesting just how wrong Bergant was in his sports column entitled A sports mind in a healthy body, in which he tried to copy the exclusion of the Georgian Football Association from Soviet football to the Slovenian level. Among other things, he degradingly wrote that the European public, which does not distinguish between Slovenia and Slovakia, does not care whether someone plays for the Slovenian, Yugoslavian, Croatian or Greek national team. The colour of the jersey or coat of arms only has a symbolic level – but is that true? Bergant also argued that great successes could only be marketed in countries with large consumer markets with high purchasing power. “For small markets, which is what we Slovenians have been and will continue to be for at least a few more centuries, side roles are reserved in this large circus.” He tried to frighten everyone by saying that Slovenian sports would now be classified in the same category as certain African “exotics” and announced that certain sports would barely be able to get by due to the European cellar quality.
How very wrong Bergant was in his predictions has been proven by the many successes of Slovenian athletes in the last 30 years. The athletes did the most for the recognition of Slovenia with their successes and put our country on the map of the world. Bergant, on the other hand, has once again turned out to be a political agitator and just another representative of the left-wing transitional elite, for whom it was proven that he was working against the independent state, from which he received constant career and financial benefits.
Sara Kovač
