| 20. Section 20 deals primarily with the deficiencies within the infrastructure of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and its staff. There are six articles. a. This article appeared in ‘Prosport’ on February 19, 2003. Prosport reports that Belu and Bitang will be invited to the studio of TVR tonight and that both are fed up with the campaign against them. Bitang said: "If our system isn't right anymore, although it has functioned up until now, and if there's a price to pay to get some peace at the national team and this price is me leaving, then I'm ready to leave. I've been at the same point two years ago and tiredness has accumulated but the true reason is that gymnastics is bombarded with scandals." Octavian Belu stated that he doesn't see him working with anyone else than Mariana Bitang because "they formed a coaching couple up until now and it will be difficult to start from scratch with another colleague." Both coaches also added that there isn't any beating anymore in Deva. "There was talk about a slap that Silvia Stroescu got but that was the only one in four years," admitted Bitang and Belu said: "I've stopped slapping gymnasts." Belu will take his decision what to do today, while Mariana Bitang has faxed her resignation to the Federation yesterday. b. This article was originally published in ‘Libertatea’ on February 20, 2003. Libertatea reports that the Federation didn't accept Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang's resignation and there will be another round of discussions today and Adrian Stoica mentions that their decision was taken in the heat of the moment and it's better to let things calm down and think it over then. Georgiu Gingaras, the Minister for Youth and Sport, said: "I don't think that an eventual resignation of both coaches would mean a tragedy because Romanian gymnastics has a tradition, it can bring new trainers forward. The truth is, that it's a pre-Olympic year and the timing is very delicate but we can't expect Belu and Bitang to stay young and coach the team forever." c. This article appeared in ‘Ziarul de Iasi’ on February 21, 2003. Mariana Bitang declared that she will not change her decision to resign from her job, despite the discussions with the Federation officials. "I don't want people to think that Belu and Bitang play with resignations but I'm tired of being falsely accused. It's true that the Federation officials rejected my resignation but we have to be realistic. Miracles can't happen and I'm decisive to break the contract," specified Bitang. Mariana Bitang affirmed that she appreciated the efforts of the Romanian Olympic Committee for taking care of the necessary conditions for the training of the national team for the Olympics in Athens but that it's difficult to work in the present situation. "I've signed a contract in which we had set our goals on a gold medal at the Olympics in Athens but it's difficult to achieve a goal like that in the present conditions. I consider that it's much better that we say what our decision is in time. We are sorry that we have been put in the situation of breaking this contract not long after we signed it, but external factors disturb the preparation of the team. We can't wait until the Olympics and then have to apologize afterwards that the goal hadn't been achieved," added Bitang who thinks that Octavian Belu will resign from his job as co-coordinator of the national team too. Adrian Stoica, the general secretary of the Federation, declared that after the meeting with the coaches that he had on Wednesday, no decision has been taken as far as the resignation of both coaches. d. This article was published originally in ‘Prosport’ on February 21, 2003. Prosport mentions Belu's terms for staying in Deva, terms that he specified during a press conference. He wants to clear up the relationship between the coaches and gymnasts, possibly through a contract to avoid that, at a certain point when gymnasts retire, they don't claim that they haven't been treated well. To add a doctor and specialist with precise tasks to the staff in Deva so that the coaches aren't considered responsible for other things than the coaching job, like nutrition or medication, and to increase the money amount that the trainers get to avoid the present situation in which the gymnasts earn more than those who train them. e. This article first appeared in ‘Prosport’ on February 25, 2003. Prosport reports that, after Ioachim Oana was sent home for giving Raducan a cold pill, there hasn't been a doctor who stayed in Deva longer than 6 months. Four doctors have been with the team since he left, each one with their own story. The Federation couldn’t pay one of them, and one of them didn't have enough experience. The latest doctor who was assigned last summer, Ioan Branda, the head of the orthopedic department, left after the World Championships because he couldn't combine two jobs. f. This article originally was published on February 25, 2003 in ‘Adevarul’. At the beginning of last week, after the latest scandal, Mariana Bitang said she would resign because she couldn't work under these conditions and Octavian Belu would follow her example. Knowing that the departure of both coaches would be a big disadvantage for the women's team, the Ministry for Youth and Sport and the Federation had numerous meetings with both coaches but Belu preferred to wait with his decision until after the weekend. Yesterday Belu said that he never wanted this situation to happen, he only wants some peace and normal working conditions. Belu: "During the last couple of days, when I had discussions with the Federation and the Ministry for Youth and Sport, we have decided that we have to make a contract in which the gymnasts' and coaches rights are stipulated, to avoid uncertainties in the future. We hope that it will be resolved before Worlds and the Olympics." About the contract that the gymnasts will have to sign for the Federation, Belu revealed that the most important part of the contract will be the consequences that a gymnast will have to undergo if they make accusations. Belu: "The biggest obligation of a gymnast is to signal on time if she's dissatisfied about certain things. I've had a discussion with a lawyer of the Ministry for Youth and Sport to draw up a clear contract and I've even consulted the Charter of Human Rights." Moreover, Belu has said that he has asked that the new contract will add that a doctor and choreographer should be added to the national team. Unlike Belu, who said that he didn't want to leave the team but wanted new coaching conditions, Mariana Bitang admitted that she wanted to break the contract that she had with the Federation but that it was impossible. Bitang: "There was a clause for breaking the contract but in that case, both parties had to agree. If I would leave the team, I would have had to pay $12000, which I don't have because I've spent it. So, I'm obligated to stay in Deva but as long as we don't have the peace, it will be really difficult to achieve our goals. We haven't come here to negotiate another contract or to ask more money and I don't play a game by saying I want to resign. However, I should have thought ahead before signing the contract because there aren't many clauses written about breaking the contract." |