IOC Invites Croatia and Slovenia to Winter Games

The breakaway Yugoslav republics of Croatia and Slovenia were invited to send separate teams to the Olympic Winter Games, and all former Soviet republics will be asked to combined in a unified team to the Summer Games in Barcelona, Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, said Friday.

The Yugoslav republics received provisional recognition from Samaranch and four of his deputies, who said swift movement by the IOC, which meets in full session Feb. 5-6, was considered necessary to allow Slovenia to field a team for the Winter Games, which begin Feb. 8 at Albertville, France.

Yugoslavia will lose its top skiers to the Slovenian team. It was unclear whether Yugoslavia still planned to send a team.

The move should have a greater impact at the Summer Games. Yugoslavia was considered the best challenge to the United States in basketball, but now many of its top players will compete for Croatia.

Samaranch said Croatia’s basketball team would be the only Yugoslavian team that could qualify as an independent entry.

Samaranch will try to reach a formal agreement on a unified Russian team for the Summer Games when he flies to Moscow today to meet with President Boris Yeltsin and Russian sports officials.