Sport brings people and nations together, but also divides them, as it is mostlyabout competing and thus about competition, which means that attempts aremade to establish who is better. This competitiveness also has »national« dimensions.In Yugoslavia sport also had political dimensions. Politics intervened in itwith various reorganisations depending on the changes of the political system.In certain periods of time state authorities were strongly present in sport and itsorganisation. Thus the Slovenian constitution of 1947 expressly emphasises thatthe state shall take care of sports activities.Until as late as 1980s Slovenian sport unconditionally belonged in the contextof Yugoslav sport. However, as the Yugoslav crisis unfolded, Slovenianathletes started gradually distancing themselves from the all-Yugoslav reality.Despite the fact that political tensions between the athletes from various Yugoslavrepublics (mostly) did not take place, Slovenian athletes still experiencedthe Slovenian political disputes with Serbian nationalism and thus kept distancingthemselves from the Yugoslav context.Although Slovenia was economically the most developed republic in theSecond Yugoslavia, in the field of sports Slovenians only »dominated« wintersports and certain individual summer sports, while in team sports they mostlystayed on the side lines. Only one football or basketball club played in the elitefederal leagues. Rare outstanding individuals in ball sports teams were Slovenian.Slovenian representatives were somewhat more competitive only in certainindividual sports disciplines. As far as sport was concerned, Serbs and Croatshad always been dominant. This was also additionally infl uenced by the umbrellasports organisations, whose registered offi ces were, as a rule, in Belgrade.Sports policies were decided on in Serbia, and in the widespread sports networkSerbs were more favourably inclined towards their own people. They additionallybenefited from better infrastructure, more monetary resources from the stateor federal budget, as well as from the mutual connections involved in the keystrategic decisions with regard to athletes, clubs and associations.In Slovenia after World War II the sports which had already been popularin the interwar period asserted themselves the most. Besides football (aswell as gymnastics), athletics and skiing also became prominent, while afterthe war other sports »broke through« and became more popular depending onorganisation and accessibility (basketball, handball, volleyball, hockey, etc.).Of the »younger« sports basketball became most popular. Certain other sports(for example handball) remained less popular despite successes. The degree ofhow widespread they were among the masses represented an important elementof the sports’ popularity. Football could be played on any meadow, basketballcalled for a hardened surface (which may not have demanded extensive financialinvestments, though), and skiing already started becoming more popularand widespread in the interwar period, as initially it had not required signifi cantfunding (until suitable skiing equipment and the whole ski slope infrastructureappeared). On the other hand the media (and sponsors) also played an importantrole. They »identified« their major interest in football, basketball, skiing – thishas held true of Slovenia since the 1980s – and also hockey. Less popular sportsfaced the lack of money, suitable infrastructure, or they were more specific andnot as well received by the wider public. In Slovenia sport depended on variousfactors, which in turn influenced the response of the public to various sportsdisciplines. Furthermore, momentary successes in certain sports most definitelyinfluenced their popularity in Slovenia.