IJF Head Sport Director Mr Vladimir Barta opened proceedings, “Dear President Dr Sanda Corak, dear judo family, on behalf of the International Judo Federation and its president, Mr Marius Vizer, I would like to welcome all athletes, coaches, officials and judo fans joining us here today. Sincerely, we thank the local organisers for their professionalism in preparing this grand prix as well as the local sponsors and partners for their support in making this event possible."
"The World Judo Tour is moving around the globe; last month we stayed in Pan America, today we are here in Europe and next we will finish this year in Asia. These stages are not only for world class competition but are also a celebration of friendship, respect and unity, the values that define our sport. I wish all participants good luck and successful competition.”
Dr Sanda Čorak, the Croatian Judo Federation President then offered a welcome from the hosts, “Good afternoon dear judo friends, competitors and coaches, media representatives and IJF directors, it is my honour and pleasure to wish you all a warm welcome to Croatia; welcome to this 12th edition of the Zagreb Grand Prix!"
"This grand prix is always our most important senior competition. Our main aims are to promote judo in Croatia and of course give chances to our younger competitors to compete at home.
Besides these goals, we always like to add to and refresh this event. So, before this event we organised a scientific conference with the faculty of kinesiology and the European Judo Union. We have also organised a camp for children from all over Croatia during the the grand prix. We will do our best to organise this event according to sustainable principles! These activities are challenging tasks so I would like to thank everyone for helping us to organise them, our team, sponsors, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the COC and of course, the IJF and Mr Vizer, who always supports the activities of the Croatian Judo Federation.
I wish all delegations the best of luck on the tatami and enjoy your stay in Zagreb!”
Assistant to the head of the City Office for Education, Soort and Youth for the City of Zagreb, Mr Stjepan Crnokić, then responded, “Dear athletes, coaches, delegates, dear guests, I greet you on behalf for the Mayor of the city of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević. I am extremely pleased that the Zagreb Grand Prix 2025 is being held here in Zagreb and that we have the honour of hosting 370 competitors from 48 countries. I congratulate everyone on the organisation. I wish the athletes success in this tournament and a pleasant stay in Zagreb. Thank you very much.”
IJF Referee Director and Olympic champion Ms Tina Trstenjak then summarised the objectives behind the selection of referees present, “For the Zagreb Grand Prix 2025, the IJF Refereeing Commission has nominated a selection of the world’s best referees, in order to ensure high quality refereeing. We wish all judoka and coaches best of luck!”
Mr Vladimir Barta then conducted the draw itself ahead of the IJF IT team preparing the JudoTV website and app, ready for coaches, spectators and fans to follow all the draws, contests and replays across the weekend.
The Zagreb Grand Prix begins at 11am local time on Friday 14th November. Tune in to catch all the action.