STA, 17 December - Cyclist Primož Roglič, sport climber Janja Garnbret and the men's national volleyball team are the winners of the main awards conferred by the Association of Sports Journalists as the 2019 Athlete of the Year ceremony was held in Ljubljana on Tuesday evening.

Roglič, who entered the world elite this year by finishing 3rd overall at the Giro d'Italia and winning the Vuelta a Espana to become the first Slovenian ever to win a Grand Tour race, scored 272 points from 105 Slovenian sport journalists.

Source: Twitter

All our stories on Roglič can be found here

He finished ahead of last year's winner of the Athlete of the Year award for men, basketball player Luka Dončić. The NBA Rookie of the Year received 200 points, while third place went to world motocross champion Tim Gajser (106).

The association noted that "in the fourth season among the elite, [Roglič] only upgraded his previous achievements" and ended the season as the first-ranked cyclist in the prestigious ProCyclingStats (PCS) raking.

Garnbret defended last year's title of the Athlete of the Year among women, winning 269 points ahead of Alpine skier Ilka Štuhec (208), the world downhill champion, and world slalom canoe champion Eva Terčelj (78).

In August, Garnbret won gold medals in bouldering, lead and the combined at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Japan to become the first ever climber to complete a hat trick in a single championship.

"A majority of her achievements, which have already made history, come with a note that she was the first or youngest to make them," the sports journalist association said about the 20-year-old.

Source: Twitter

 All our stories on Garnbret can be found here

In line with expectations, the Slovenian men's national volleyball team was declared the best team this year, winning 95 out of the possible 105 votes. The award comes after they won silver at the European Championships in September, co-hosted by Ljubljana.

"With their performances, they again unified the Slovenian nation by filling up the Stožice Arena and kept sport lovers in front of their television screens," the association said about the improbable run made by the volleyball players.

The most promising young athlete is tennis player Kaja Juvan, who played in the second round of Wimbledon and peaked at No. 106 in the WTA rankings this season. "The goals in the coming season are much higher," the association said.

Biathlete Alex Cisar won the fair play award for his display of sportsmanship in a Slovenian Cup race in Pokljuka. He gave fellow competitor Tilen Gregorka his ski stick after Gregorka lost one of his own in a collision with Cisar.

It was a story that seemed to originate in the African football media, and then bounced back to Slovenia and beyond, but the man at the centre of it all, Donatus Edafe, has now dismissed reports that he was fired from ND Gorica for getting the daughter of the club's president pregnant.

Speaking to brila.net, a Nigerian-based sports site, the 26-year old attacker is quoted as follows:

Thank you for contacting me, I don’t know where the story emanated from. I was shocked when I read the report where they said I impregnated my former president daughter, I left Nova Gorica in 2018 and returned to Nigeria at the end of my contract. I can assure you that all is fine between me and the Club, and the president has no daughter. The story is completely false and it must be discouraged.

Update - this story appears to be false, with more details here

Ghana Web reports that an unnamed Nigerian football player at an also unnamed Slovenian club has been fired six months’ after joining the team for getting the daughter of the club’s President pregnant. According to the story, four Nigerians currently play in Slovenia: Bede Osuji (ND Gorica), Temitope Nelson (NŠ Drava Ptuj), Gerald Chiyoke (team unknown) and Sulaiman Adedoja (team unknown).

The player has now returned to Nigeria, fearing public opinion in Slovenia, and is considering contacting FIFA to register a formal complaint at being fired for a personal matter. He is quoted as follows in the story:

The club got to know [that my girlfriend was pregnant] and summoned me for a meeting. I got there and admitted that I am responsible for the pregnancy and I was told to stay at home and not to be seen around the club premises until I am instructed to return.

A week later I was called to the office and told that my agent has been informed about their plans to terminate my contract for gross misconduct and indiscipline.

Now I don't know what will happen to her and the child since I'm back in Nigeria. They have forced her to block me on all social media platforms so we have not been communicating. The few friends I made at the club are also scared of speaking to me about her apparently they don't want to run into trouble with the team. I'm confused right now.

STA, 6 December 2019 - Luka Dončić has been named Sports Illustrated's 2019 Breakout of the Year in what is only the latest in a series of titles won by the 20-year-old Slovenian NBA superstar.

"Each year, sports fans witness a performance that someday we'll look back on as the moment that a star was born," which is the "spirit of achievement and arrival" that the American sports magazine honours.

The Breakout of the Year title winners in recent years been US NFL footballer Alvin Kamara, Cameroon basketball player Joel Embiid and Puerto Rican baseball player Francisco Lindor.

The Dallas Mavericks small forward, who made his debut in the US National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2018, was named NBA player of the month for October and November.

He also holds the record for the most triple-doubles by a player before his 21st birthday in NBA history and currently leads the NBA in triple-doubles.

After 19 games this season Dončić ranks third in the league in scoring (30.6 points), second in assists per game (9.6) and 15th in rebounding (9.9 rebounds per game).

Sports Illustrated will present the Breakout of the Year honour at its Sportsperson of the Year event in New York on 9 December.

STA, 28 November 2019 - Slovenian Damir Skomina has been declared the world's best football referee in 2019 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). He was selected by football experts from 90 countries in the world.

Skomina, who was also the first Slovenian referee to officiate a UEFA Champions League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in Madrid on 1 June, thus became the 19th holder of the title that is being conferred since 1987.

The 43-year-old scored 136 points in the vote, with the second-placed, German Felix Brych, who held the title in 2017, scoring 129 points. Skomina took the title for the first time.

According to the IFFHS, Skomina has put on a consistent showing throughout the season. He has so far officiated more than 530 matches, including 301 Slovenian national league matches, 50 Champions League matches, 17 European League matches, 60 international UEFA matches, a world championship match and an Olympic tournament.

The IFFHS also picked the best goalkeeper of 2019, with Slovenia's Jan Oblak placing third, behind Brazilian Alisson in first and German Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona in second place.

Oblak from Madrid's Atletico has been in the top three best goalkeepers in the last three seasons.

STA, 24 November 2019 - Slovenia's Anže Lanišek placed second after Norway's Daniel Andre Tande at the first individual event of the new, 41st Ski Jumping World Cup season in Poland's Wisla on Sunday. The first World Cup podium result for the 23-year-old comes only a day after the Slovenian team placed fourth in the team event.

 Lanišek, whom head coach Gorazd Bertoncelj had mentioned as one of the Slovenian favourites this season, said he had not expected to finish among the top three at the season opener.

"I'm very happy. I've been waiting for four years to finally get to the podium. I didn't think this would happen as early as Wisla.

"I'm quite satisfied although my jumps are not yet at the right level," said Lanišek, whom his friends have nicknamed "frog".

Placing third was Poland's Kamil Stoch, while the defending World Cup winner Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan placed fourth.

Lanišek's success was rounded off by Timi Zajc, who placed sixth; his 134-metre jump was the longest in the second series.

Peter Prevc placed 15th, Domen Prevc 23rd, Rok Justin 27th and Tilen Bartol 29th.

On Saturday, the Slovenian team - Anže Lanišek, Anže Semenič, Timi Zajc and Peter Prevc - placed fourth after securing third place in series one.

Bertoncelj is very happy with both season openers, saying the boys did a really good job.

"I'm happy we don't have only one good individual, but several good ones, a good team as a whole," he said after today's event.

STA, 19 November 2019 - Slovenian basketball star Luka Dončić continues to break new ground in the NBA, having set a new Slovenian record in points scored. The 20-year-old passed Goran Dragić (40) on Monday evening by scoring 42 points in a win of his Dallas Mavericks against the Texas rival San Antonio Spurs.

In the 117:110 win for the Mavericks, Dončić also added 12 assists and 11 rebounds for what is already his sixth triple-double early in the new season.

Playing in his second year in the best basketball league in the world, the Slovenian became the second-youngest NBA player with a 40-point triple-double, trailing only LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dončić and James are the only players in the history of the league to manage the feat before turning 21.

By scoring 42 points, Dončić set a new Slovenian record for points, overtaking Goran Dragić and his career-high 40 points scored in February 2014, when he played for the Phoenix Suns.

Speaking to a reporter after the match, Dončić said that the "match was special, it's a rivalry", referring to the San Antonio Spurs, adding that "we always want to win every such game."

He said he had a dream during a pre-game nap that he would score 16 points in the first quarter. "And then I scored 17, so dreams don't come true," he said jokingly, while giving his teammates the credit for the win.

ESPN meanwhile quoted Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle as saying that "this guy can do anything he wants to on a basketball court. He's having one of those magical runs right now. It's a phenomenal thing to watch."

Dončić is actually almost averaging a triple-double in the first 12 games of the season, recording 28.5 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game, for a player efficiency rating (PER) of 30.05, in which he is 4th in the league.

Slovenian basketball player Luka Dončić has confirmed that he will play for the Slovenian national team in the Olympic qualifiers which will take place from June 23-28, 2020.

Dončić, who is currently playing for Dallas Mavericks in the NBA, told AS, the Spanish sports magazine, that he is also hoping for his NBA team to qualify for the playoffs this season, which will take place between April 19 and June 5^th, 2020.

When exactly Dončić can return to his national team therefore depends on the success of the Mavericks this season, who are currently ranked seventh in the Western conference. The first eight teams of each two conferences qualify for the playoffs. For all non-qualifying teams, the regular season ends on April 15, 2020.

The last time Dončić played for the national team was in 2017, when Slovenia won the European Championship under the brilliant guidance of team’s leader Goran Dragić and the chief coach Igor Kokoškov. Dragić has meanwhile retired from the national team while Kokoškov has, following Slovenia’s unsuccessful bid for World Championship in China, recently switched to the Serbian national team, whom Slovenia surprisingly beat in the 2017 Eurobasket finals.

Whether Slovenia is going to meet Serbia in the Olympic qualifiers will be decided by a draw on November 27, 2019, which will determine which of the five teams Slovenia will need to play against in order to end up first in the group and hence qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

STA, 17 November 2019 - The Slovenian men's national football team beat Latvia 1:0 in Ljubljana on Saturday evening in the penultimate round of qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2020, but the door to the tournament have been closed as Austria defeated North Macedonia to claim the second place in Group G.

 Despite having only slight theoretical chances of making it to the UEFA Euro 2020, Slovenia played very well in front of the home crowd of some 11,000 in the rainy Stožice Stadium, but failed to score in the first half.

It was actually Latvia's Igors Tarasovs who scored an own goal in the 53rd minute to give Slovenia an 1:0 advantage, which they kept until the end, while having some more good chances to increase the lead.

However, the win was to no avail as Austria, the main rivals for the second spot in the group, which directly leads to the final tournament, beat North Macedonia 2:1 in Vienna last evening to join the group winners Poland as the runner-up.

Speaking after the match, which ended before Austria played North Macedonia, Slovenia's head coach Matjaž Kek said that "we showed our will and desire, but also uncertainty in certain moments."

Forward Andraž Šporar said that it was a must-win game after the two losses in the October round of the qualifying, in which the Latvians "eventually scored an own goal, if we weren't able to, but the three points is what counts."

With 14 points out of nine matches, Slovenia are currently third in the group, trailing Austria (19) and Poland (22), whom they will play in Warsaw on Tuesday to wrap up the unsuccessful qualifiers.

STA, 12 November 2019 - The designers of the Planica Nordic Centre in north-eastern Slovenia has received a gold medal for an architectural achievement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS) among almost 100 competing projects.

The awards were announced at the 26th international IAKS congress in Cologne, Germany, last week, and presented officially on Tuesday by the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

The Nordic skiing complex with one ski flying hill, seven ski jumping hills and a cross-country skiing track is one of the seven recipients of the gold medals among a total of 98 competing projects.

What speaks of the success of the Planica Nordic Centre is that the award for an architectural achievement in the past went to the likes of Beijing National Stadium, also called The Bird's Nest, and National Stadium in Singapore.

For instance, the latter cost EUR 1.2 billion build, while the cost of the Planica Nordic Centre was around EUR 48 million.

The project by three architectural firms (Stvar, Abiro and Akka) has been recognised by an international jury as a "modern complex created by expanding and modernising the existing facilities in the Triglav National Park."

According to the jury, it is noted for versatile and year-round use for elite sport and major international events, as well as tourism and recreation, and is marked by its clear, linear design in harmony with the landscape.

The jury has also been impressed by the "magnificent integration of the facility into the landscape" and the use of an underground tunnel for cross-country skiing in the summer.

Matej Blenkuš of Abiro said at today's event that while there were financial constraints, the architects were happy to "build in one of the most beautiful environments in Slovenia."

Such an environment puts overly ambitious architects on realistic grounds, as it sends a message that no one should date to change such an environment," he added.

Aleš Vodopivec of Stvar said that the project was an "unbelievable challenge, but the award proves that we have been successful".

Apart from hosting the Ski Jumping World Cup finale every year, the Planica Nordic Centre will host the Nordic World Ski Championships in 2023, at which tens of thousands of fans are expected to show up.

All our stories on Planica are here