"People are crazy about sports," Jon Hestoy, the vice-president of the Faroese Confederation of Sports and Olympic Committee (FCSOC), argues while discussing how sport is viewed in the Faroe Islands.

"You don’t have many people saying, ‘no I think we spend too much’."

Hestoy acknowledges that the final comment was an exaggeration as one person among the estimated 55,000 population in the Faroe Islands is bound to disagree on his view.

However, the point was to demonstrate the passion the Faroe Islands has for sport and the scale of investment the industry receives.

Hestoy, who is due to step down as FCSOC vice-president, understands this to a great length after spending almost 40 years serving in various sporting roles, including three separate terms as President of the Faroe Islands Swimming Association.

Around a third of the Faroese population are members of sports clubs which total over 100 while the Kingdom of Denmark territory has 23 sport associations.

The federations to be internationally recognised are archery, badminton, darts, football, handball, judo, rowing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball.

The Faroese sport community is continuously growing across the collection of 17 populated islands thanks to the rise in sporting facilities.

The North Atlantic archipelago poses 22 full scale football pitches, over 20 swimming pools and a new Olympic-standard shooting range for trap and skeet.

The Klaksvíkar Svimjihøll sports complex is equipped with the facilities to stage handball, badminton, volleyball, swimming, football and basketball.

Just beside the centre, a new athletics venue is currently being built which is expected to also house a new football pitch.

In the Faroes capital of Tórshavn, the now-completed Tórsvøllur is the commanding focus with its stature as the football national stadium.

Surrounding it is a training pitch and the home of football clubs B36 and Havnar Bóltfelag.

A new Olympic-standard 50 metre swimming pool is also under construction with it expected to be two metres deep and 25m wide when it opens next year.

A five-metre diving tower and children's pool are also anticipated to be included.

"From 2002 to 2025, we have spent approximately €125 million (£106 million/$134 million) on sporting facilities on the Faroe Islands," Hestoy told insidethegames.

Plans to build a new 4,600-seater indoor multisport arena for handball, volleyball and tennis is also underway.

Hestoy commented that this will cost another €40 million (£34 million/$43 million).

Svangaskarð in Toftir, an athletics stadium, has the largest legacy of all as the venues after it became the first facility of its kind to be built in the Faroe Islands in the lead up to the 1989 Island Games.

The multi-sport competition turned out to be an enormous success for the Faroese thanks to their athletes claiming 13 golds, five silvers and 10 bronzes to finish third in the overall medal table.

Svangaskarð has undergone updates over the years, which includes a football pitch.

The long list of rising facilities acts as exhibitions of how serious the Faroese are regarding sport and their push to be fully integrated within the sporting ecosystem.

Hosting this year’s European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation General Assembly and potentially staging the 2029 Island Games further affirms the Faroese’s ambition.

Faroe Islands Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen, who has a background in rowing and handball, unsurprisingly shares this passion.

"We now have a fully updated football stadium," Nielsen commented to insidethegames.

"We are using a lot of resources to invest in the right circumstances for sport.

"We are trying to maintain and make the facilities even better all the time.

"That is the most important thing we can show."

He added the large investment is “also to show the sport people we want them” to be competing.

Yet, the Faroe Islands feel they cannot fulfil their true potential until the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognises the FCSOC who have been campaigning for almost 50 years.

A rule was inserted into the Olympic Charter in 1996 which insisted that National Olympic Committee (NOC) recognition can "only be granted after recognition as an independent state by the international community."

The Faroe Islands operate as a self-governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark who decide all their policies, except on defence and foreign policy, and covers every cost sport requires, including anti-doping.

Among the international bodies to recognise the Faroe Islands independently are the World Health Organization, International Maritime Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The Danish NOC is one of the Nordic NOCs to support the FCSOC’s bid to enter the Olympics.

The Faroe Islands also point out that other regions, such as the British Virgin Islands which is a British overseas territory, has Olympic status.

Their argument is furthered by the fact that they are one of the founding members of the International Paralympic Committee.

The push to gain recognition is wholeheartedly supported by Prime Minister Nielsen, who told insidethegames that "we should of course use that [the Faroese flag] when the Faroese sports people are participating in the Olympic Games." 

Nevertheless, Hestoy was keen to clarify that every politician from the Faroe Islands supports the recognition, even if they are pro-unionist with Denmark - which is the case with Nielsen.

"The only thing every politician in the Faroe Islands is 100 per cent sure of is that we should have international recognition," Hestoy said.

"There is no doubt in my mind that we have a right in the world to get this recognition."

Faroese rower Sverri Sandberg Nielsen claimed silver at the 2019 World Championships and gold at the European Championships the following year.

However, due to the FCSOC’s unrecognised Olympic status, Nielsen was forced to compete under the Danish flag at Tokyo 2020 where he finished fourth.

Swimmer Pál Joensen experienced the same fate when he competed at London 2012.

This both contrasted to marathon Paralympian Hávard Vatnhamar who was able to participate at Tokyo 2020 under the Faroese flag.

"Imagine what we could do if we had the full membership and the full potential of possibilities," Hestoy reflects.

"It is like you want to shake something.

"It is so obvious that our sporting community, our athletes, are on a level where we would have someone in the highest level of sport at any point in time."

Eliott is a junior reporter with insidethegames.biz. He graduated from New Bucks University in 2020 where he studied multimedia sports journalism. He worked as a freelancer while he completed his NCTJ qualification, writing for publications such The Football Pink and Last Word On Football.

Lizsurley Villegas Serna produces an upset in women's freestyle BMX at FISE

When British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance at Sarajevo 1984 with 12 perfect 6.0s from every judge, for their interpretation of Maurice Ravel's Boléro, an important member of their team was singer-actor Michael Crawford. Crawford, who had played Frank Spencer in British sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and the title role in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, had become a mentor to the pair in 1981 and went on to help them create their Olympic routine. Crawford said he “taught them how to act". He was present with their trainer Betty Callaway at the ringside at Sarajevo as they created one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.

UCI - Major Events Delivery Manager - Aigle, Suisse , Switzerland

Founded on 14th April 1900 in Paris, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the world governing body for cycling. Its mission is to develop and supervise cycling in all its forms and for everybody, as a competitive sport, as a healthy recreational activity and as a means of transport and having fun. Reporting to the Head of Olympic Games and Major Events, the Major Events Delivery Manager will be responsible for supporting the planning and delivery to a high standard of the UCI Cycling World Championships and the UCI Emerging countries World Championships or any other identified event hosted on a 4-year cycle. This includes support for UCI involvement in events such as the Olympic Games and certain related qualification events, Youth Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games.

The International Ski Federation or the reincarnated International Ski and Snowboard Federation's Congress on Thursday in Milan was packed with drama. Here is Mike Rowbottom's full interview with new President Johan Eliasch, where he is elaborating on his plans for the governing body.

Should players from Russia and Belarus be allowed to compete at Wimbledon?

You have viewed over 50 articles in the last 12 months.

Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10

For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody. 

insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.

Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since. 

As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport. 

Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit. 

The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.

Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 - it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.