The Roma boxers Baxrami, Kurtesi and Ramadani from Urosevac as well as Buzoli and Ilir were members of the national boxing team of Yugoslavia. During the 25th European Championship Buzoli and Redzepi won a silver medal in the middleweight category and a bronze medal in the bantam category. Ibramovic from Pristina became a middleweight-champion in the Mediterranean Championships. The karate master Kajtasi, who wrote his own karate book, was also very well known. The sports teacher N. Ibrahim Mogambe, was a sought-after trainer for Serbian and Albanian gymnasts. In 1998, the boxer Sope Muhammed was kidnapped and decapitated by Albanian racists. They almost beat the soccer player Durmis Misini to death in the beginning of September 2000. He has been lying in a coma since then.

Fatmir Demiri from the judo-club "Partizan" Gnjlan. In the 1990s, he was the national judo champion of Yugoslavia for several years. Photo: Rrota

In 1996, the Kosovo Rom Dzoni and his German girlfriend Angela got married in Dzoni´s hometown Prizren. An unforgettable day for every couple, of course, but for Angela in particular, because here, in Kosovo, she got to know the age-old wedding ceremonies of the Roma. With three days of lively and colourful celebrations in the street, filled with music, she was warmly welcomed into the large family. During these weddings, the women wear their preciously embroidered vests. In wealthy families, such weddings can last for as long as six days, sometimes taking place in expensive hotels like the "Narciss" in Presovac. Other occasions for exuberant celebrations were the family gatherings for circumcision in Muslim families. Herdelesi, the spring festival of the Roma on 5th May, and Vasilica, the New Year were celebrated by Christians and Muslims alike.

Celebrating circumcision in Mitrovica
Photo: Archive Rom e.V.